Chancellor Gordon Brown’s plans to cut 100,000 jobs and billions of pounds in spending from the public services appear justified, after the UK came in 22nd in a list of efficient administrations.
The annual report by the World Economic Forum, released last week, put the UK just behind developing countries such as Ghana and Malaysia, with the UK lagging behind other nations in its infrastructure and schools.
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David Werren, chairman of public sector consultancy Governetz, said increased funding to health and education and the rising public sector workforce had not been balanced by a rigorous reform of public service administration.
However, the Public and Commercial Services union said business ‘efficiency’ was being used to justify cutting jobs, without any analysis of the impact on users.