Treasury puts out feelers for good ideas to cut government costs
By Paul McBeth
Jan. 12 (BusinessDesk) – The Treasury’s Cross Agency Programme Management Office is asking for good ideas from the
private sector to cut the government’s costs and lift the public service’s effectiveness.
The government department is “testing the market for innovative ideas” in a bid to make cash savings and improve the
public sector’s efficiency by improving collaboration across different agencies, according to a tender document. The
registration of interest (ROI) is seeking ideas to “improve the way government works” without asking for anything in
specific.
“Submissions should indicate the agencies that would most benefit from adoption of the idea or would be natural leads to
management implementation,” the document said. “The primary purpose of this ROI is to seek general information that will
assist the Treasury in identifying ideas with potential for government to improve efficiency and effectiveness through
cross-agency or all-of-government initiatives.”
The tender is part of the government’s crackdown on spending under the National-led administration, with Finance
Minister Bill English completely rethinking the size and scope of the public services. Last year’s Budget allocated $3
million to brainstorm ways to meet the government’s ‘Better Services for Less’ agenda.
Back-office functions, such as administration and IT, have been targeted for the biggest cuts with increased
all-of-government procurement process set up, and Treasury has flagged big savings could be made by amalgamating those
back-room services.
The tender will assess ideas on whether they address an obvious existing problem, create scalable cross-agency
solutions, benefit multiple agencies, show a strong return on investment, indicate improved services, and complements or
coordinates with existing government projects.
The Treasury won’t consider information and communication technology unless it enables a broader idea.
Shortlisted ideas may be invited to participate in a closed tender process, though any unique ideas may see the Treasury
negotiate directly for work to develop into a business case. Other ideas may be kept for future consideration, or may be
incorporated into existing work.
The ROI is open until Feb. 8.
(BusinessDesk)