On 11 April 2012, the Rafael del Pino Foundation hosted the Master Conference "The challenges of European indebtedness: how to do more with less to protect our public services", delivered by Francis Maude, Minister of the Cabinet Office of the British Government.
Francis Maude explained how the UK is trying to reform the UK administration: "We are trying to cut public spending without affecting basic services and, as far as possible, without affecting public sector jobs as well, because preserving jobs at a time of weak economic growth is one of the priorities. Even so, job losses in the public sector cannot be completely avoided. We also decided to cut spending on the administrative side and on the procurement of supplies. We have renegotiated contracts with large suppliers; we have got rid of buildings and facilities we do not need; we have stopped investing in institutional advertising, marketing and the Internet; and we are also trying to move to online A large part of the administrative procedures for citizens in those areas where public services can be channelled through the Internet. This is a difficult process, but it allows us to use public resources more efficiently and to make that money go further.
Francis Maude spoke of the procedure followed by the British executive in its rationalisation of spending: "We have about 300 officials working in the Reform and Efficiency Group who report to me and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. It's about keeping things like procurement under control and making it more efficient. We have made big savings that are a foretaste of what is to come, especially in areas like technology spending, real estate, the management of civil administration... We are moving towards a smaller but more effective administration with more capacity to act and to be able to expand its scope of action. This is what a General Manager would do in a private company: deal with the less "glamorous" matters that need to be attended to and on which companies spend a lot of money. We believe we owe it to citizens and taxpayers to ensure that we make more rational use of public resources, eliminating wasteful spending. And that is what we are doing.
