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Government to cut red tape for frontline public sector workers

A government strategy to reduce bureaucracy for front line[External website] workers so that public services can work more efficiently without compromising on standards was published today by Cabinet Office Ministers Hilary Armstrong and Pat McFadden.

Announced at a breakfast discussion with frontline public sector workers, the plan sets out how the Government is going to reduce bureaucracy by:

1. Getting Whitehall departments to identify, for the first time, the bureaucracy burden on public services.
2. Identifying top 10 irritants in each field, publishing them in late 2007.
3. Reducing duplicate or unnecessary information requests by Departments which tie up people on the front line
4. Giving public sector workers a clear mechanism to challenge bureaucracy which doesn't work.

Hilary Armstrong told her audience that as well as CLG pledging to cut Local Government targets from 800 to 200, a cut of 75 per cent, Ofsted have reduced the length and frequency of their inspections, while the Department for Health have already reduced the amount of data they collect by 28 per cent.

Frontline staff are urged to log on to the Cabinet Office better regulation portal at www.betterregulation.gov.uk[External website] to lodge their ideas for cutting bureaucracy in their day to day work. This will go hand in hand with managers and Departments working closely with staff to pick up their ideas; a process that began today in a breakfast workshop between Ministers and frontline staff in Whitehall.

The Ministers stressed that standards and targets have helped improve services, such as NHS waiting times, and will remain a key part of the Government's public service reform efforts. Ministers also recognise the way information is collected needs to be rationalised to reduce form–filling and administration time.

Notes to editors

1. The public sector strategy for reducing bureaucracy follows on from 2006 Government commitments which are beginning to deliver a 25% reduction on the cost of administering regulation for the private sector.

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