Chancellor puts IT at the heart of his spending review

Says technology will help to deliver better value for money for taxpayers

IT will help HMRC achieve cuts, said Osborne

The Chancellor George Osborne has placed IT at the heart of his spending review, promising the efficiency benefits technology can deliver and the empowering effect it has on people’s lives can mitigate the impact of dramatic reductions in public spending.

In his hour-long statement, Osborne outlined swingeing cuts across the public sector. But he said the resultant reforms would improve “the service provided to the public” and the value for money taxpayers received. IT will play a critical role in helping achieve that.

For example, Osborne said he would cut HM Revenue & Custom’s budget by 15 per cent by making “better use of new technology, greater efficiency and better IT contracts”. He said £900m would be spent on systems that would target tax evasion and fraud, which would bring in an extra £7bn in tax revenues.

The central government budget for police is also being slashed – shrinking by 20 per cent by 2014-15. However, to ensure forces continue to focus on their key priorities, the government has promised to introduce new technology to make policing more effective while simultaneously saving money.

However, some of the detail on IT spending remains unclear. For example, the spending review commits the UK Borders Agency to reduce its spending on support functions, estates and IT by £500m. Yet at the same time it is expected to raise the productivity of its frontline operations by investing in technology.

Osborne also announced a radical approach to unemployment, promoting greater use of web and mobile phone apps targeted at job seekers. This he said would help those looking for work and make inroads in reducing overheads.

But the spending review did not only detail cuts. Osborne reaffirmed his commitment to the so-called Green Deal, which will offer financial incentives for home owners to make their properties more energy efficient.

This will include alterations such as improved insulation but also u ltimately necessitates the deployment of smart meters in the home to monitor energy use. A nationwide smart meter rollout is likely to be the largest technology programme in the country in the coming years.

The government has also committed itself to providing £200m a year by 2014-15 to support manufacturing and business development, with a focus on the commercialisation of new technologies and funding the establishment of R&D innovation centres.

Osborne also confirmed that the BBC would have to find £530m from its funding to support super-fast broadband pilots in the Highlands and Islands, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Herefordshire.