New digital services will save £1.2bn by 2015, according to Cabinet Office

600 central government transaction services being redesigned to save time and money

Nick Hurd, a Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, says that the introduction of new digital services - and the redesign of existing ones - will "save the taxpayer and service users around £1.2bn by 2015, and at least £1.7bn a year thereafter.

However, he adds, "that is not just about saving money; it is also about the opportunity to change totally the way the public engages with the government" and about improving the experience.

Hurd was responding to a series of Parliamentary questions asked by Michael Fabricant, the Member of Parliament for Lichfield in Staffordshire, who is also Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury.

Hurd continued: "We are reviewing more than 600 central government transactions... Seven departments are responsible for around 90 per cent of those. Those departments have committed to redesigning three significant series each, all the details of which are in their departmental digital strategies.

"This is a live process, and the Student Loans Company went live in October. He is entirely right to remind us that no one should be excluded from the process, which is why the government remains committed to an assisted digital service."