Supplier says OEP will be insufficient

Public Service - 2nd July 2009 

The Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) will not cover the public sector's shortfall, an IT contractor said.

Atos Origin, an international IT services company, has warned that the OEP will only deliver half of the efficiency savings required.

Mike Zealley, who is leading on the OEP for Atos Origin, said: "Greater collaboration with suppliers and a more joined-up, cross-departmental approach are needed. We are seeing evidence of this type of approach delivering incremental benefits in excess of 15 per cent beyond the types of recommendations in the OEP."

He warned that more of the same approach by departments will lead to the public sector failing to deliver on these targets. "The time has come to challenge the conventional silo thinking," he added.

Philip Chalmers, Atos Origin strategy director, said: "If the response [of departments] is to send out a letter to suppliers that says: 'Thank you very much but we'd like you to take a 15 per cent cut in your service charges,' we won't get anywhere. Collaboration from the outset will be essential."

The comments were made at a roundtable discussion on the OEP, how it affects civil servants' work and how still greater efficiency savings can be made.