Shared services could save the UK public sector up to £2.8bn per year within two to three years, according to research from consultancy A T Kearney.

Whitehall departments have been tasked to press ahead with schemes for centralising finance and human resources (HR) within their estate or, for smaller organisations, sharing with others.

According to the Cabinet Office, significant progress has already been made.
Between them, the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs have moved all 550,000 staff onto their respective Oracle and SAP platforms. The Cabinet Office is migrating onto the DWP system.

The Home Office is moving 20,000 people onto a single finance system.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has 13,000 staff on its central finance and HR programmes.

The Department for Transport has 8,000 people live on shared finance and HR, expected to grow to 20,000 over the next 18 months.

And Transport for London said it saved 30 per cent in the first year after moving 20,000 staff onto a central HR system.