Tag: 2023

• Productivity Programme reveals some public servants waste a whole working day each week on admin.
• New tech and cutting admin workloads would save millions of working hours, including around 750,000 policing hours every week.
• Al already helping NHS treat stroke victims and build high-quality lesson plans for teachers.

The Chancellor will set out the case for innovation and reform across public services to unlock productivity as a new review finds that some public servants are forced to waste a day each week on administrative tasks.

Improvements being considered could free up over 38 million police hours each year – almost 750,000 hours every week – for police officers to perform frontline duties and cut a teacher’s workload by up to five hours a week.

An update to the Treasury’s Public Sector Productivity Programme, which will be published in the Autumn Statement, has revealed huge opportunities to cut admin, safely harness AI and deliver early interventions to relieve pressure on public services.

Ahead of a visit to a Blue Light Hub which brings together police, ambulance and fire services, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said:

Our public servants are among the best in the world, but we don’t help them or taxpayers when a day every week is wasted on admin.

We must do better by cutting admin, preventing problems before they emerge and safely introducing new technology like AI. This will deliver happier workforces, better public services and a stronger economy.

The Productivity Programme brings together expertise from the world of technology, business and public service. Recognising the challenges facing public services in the UK as the population changes in the coming years, it found three areas for improvement: workforce; AI and new technology; and prevention.

Workforce

The Chancellor has already announced a Civil Service Numbers Cap, which will save taxpayers £1 billion during the current spending period, and a review of equality and diversity spending in the Civil Service is also underway.

There are large opportunities for reform in the shape, size and culture of public services, but there are opportunities to go further. Some public servants spend up to 8 hours every working week on administrative tasks. While some of these tasks are needed, others are not and take time away from NHS staff treating the sick and police officers catching criminals. There has already been progress in identifying the specific tasks public servants perform and finding ways to ease the burden, with expert taskforces looking at the police and teaching professions.

The Home Office will publish a series of recommendations on Monday (20th November) that could save police up to 38 million hours per year and 750,000 hours every week, as part of the independent Police Productivity Review. That is the equivalent of an additional 20,000 police officers’ time. These proposals range from building on recently introduced measures that cut unnecessary bureaucracy to driving greater productivity through the adoption of new and improved technology. The recommendations are intended to divert police time back to their primary priorities of keeping the public and our streets safe.

The Government also has an ambition to reduce teacher workload by up to 5 hours each week within the next three years, particularly through helping teachers cut down on tasks like lesson planning, inputting data or marking, which will improve recruitment and retention – and ultimately raise pupil outcomes.

AI and new technology

The potential productivity benefits from applying AI to routine tasks across the public sector are estimated to be worth billions. But while the UK was placed third in the Government AI Readiness Index and has attracted over £18 billion of private investment since 2016, it sits tenth in the public sector category.

The Chancellor wants to seize the opportunity presented by safely introducing AI. Across England, 90 percent of stroke units are now using cutting-edge AI tools to help clinicians treat stroke patients more quickly, halving the time it takes to receive treatment and tripling the chances of a patient living independently following a stroke.

Thousands of teachers have already signed up to a pilot AI-powered lesson planner and quiz builder – backed by £2 million in government funding – which marks the first step towards providing every teacher with a personalised AI lesson-planning assistant.

The Productivity Programme will go on to consider how AI can be used to improve public services safely ahead of the spring.

Prevention

The update also highlights the need to relieve pressure on public services in the face of demographic changes, such as an ageing population.

The Government has published the first-ever Long-Term Workforce Plan for the NHS, charting a path to an NHS fit for the future. Prevention is a key part of this plan, with a greater focus on care in the community, mental health provision and other ways of supporting people before they require hospital care. £150 million has been invested up to April 2025 to better support people experiencing – or at risk of experiencing – mental health crises to receive care and support in more appropriate settings outside of A&E, helping to ease pressures facing the NHS.

The Government will also publish the first-ever national kinship care strategy at the end of the year, in recognition of the crucial support kinship carers provide for some the most vulnerable children. There will also be a dedicated training and support programme and the establishment of peer support groups for kinship carers, backed by £9 million in funding and alongside a £47 million programme to help more children stay in loving stable homes, including with kinship carers.

Home Secretary, James Cleverly said:

I am committed to keeping the British public safe, so if that means removing red tape from policing, that is the action I will take.

We have already made a start by cutting bureaucracy and reducing the time officers spend attending mental health callouts that should not require a policing response, but we must go further.

I will work with the police to consider how we can take the review’s other recommendations forward.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott said:

Improving schools, hospitals and our justice system isn’t always about reaching for the spending tap. By safely wielding new technology, cutting down bureaucracy and tackling issues earlier, we can improve morale and performance – while ensuring our public services are ready for the challenges of tomorrow.

The Productivity Programme will continue to engage with industry experts, academics, public sector organisations in the UK and other governments ahead of the spring. This will drive the Government’s approach to increasing public sector productivity growth, which is needed to prevent the state growing ever-larger – paid for by increased borrowing and tax.

Notes to editors:

• The Productivity Programme update will be published as part of the Autumn Statement.
• The recommendations from the Police Productivity Review will be published on Monday 20th November. The Home Office will formally respond in the new year.
• The Teacher Workload Reduction Taskforce recommendations will be published in due course.

• £4.5 billion for strategic manufacturing sectors including £960 million earmarked for clean energy
• Funding will be delivered to eight sectors key to economic growth, energy security, and levelling-up
• Part of wider government support to ensure UK is the best place to start, grow, and invest in manufacturing

Over £2 billion has been earmarked for the automotive industry and £975 million for aerospace, supporting the manufacturing, supply chain and development of zero emission vehicles, and investment in energy efficient and zero-carbon aircraft equipment.

Alongside this, the government has committed to £960 million for a Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support clean energy manufacturing, and £520 million for life sciences manufacturing to build resilience for future health emergencies and capitalise on the UK’s world-leading research and development.

With the entire manufacturing sector making up over 43% of all UK exports and employing around 2.6 million people, this funding is targeted at the UK’s strongest, world leading sectors; including where the industry is undergoing fundamental changes to remain at the forefront of the global transition to net zero, like the move to zero emission vehicles in the automotive industry.

The Green Industries Growth Accelerator investment will support the expansion of strong, home-grown, clean energy supply chains across the UK, including carbon capture, utilisation and storage, electricity networks, hydrogen, nuclear and offshore wind. This will enable the UK to seize growth opportunities through the transition to net zero, building on our world-leading decarbonisation track record and strong deployment offer.

The funding forms part of the Prime Minister’s pledge to grow the economy, and his focus on making decisions for the long-term, ensuring this funding doesn’t just focus on the most successful sectors today but looks ahead to how we keep pace internationally and build the UK’s expertise for the industries of the future.

Together with our existing manufacturing support and plans for net zero transition, this package will help unlock private investment, provide certainty to investors, boost energy security, and protect and create jobs. This approach has already mobilised £198 billion in public and private investment in low carbon energy deployment since 2010.

Today’s announcement comes ahead of the second Global Investment Summit later this month, which will showcase innovative companies from across the UK, with significant investment opportunities in sectors such as technology, sustainability, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and creative industries.

It will also help ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of the global transition to net zero and can seize growth opportunities in the new green economy. The UK remains a world-leader in cutting emissions, having decarbonised faster than any G7 country since 1990 and set out clear plans to meet all our climate targets and deliver energy security.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, said:

“Britain is now the 8th largest manufacturer in the world, recently overtaking France. To build on this success, we are targeting funding to support the sectors where the UK is or could be world-leading.

“Our £4.5 billion of funding will leverage many times that from the private sector, and in turn will grow our economy, creating more skilled, higher-paid jobs in new industries that will be built to last.”

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said:

“The UK is a global hub for advanced manufacturing, with world-leading automotive, aerospace and maritime sectors. This package builds on recent investment wins, such as the £4 billion gigafactory, and the £600m invested to build the next generation of electric Minis, and ensures that the government can continue to help create jobs, grow the economy, and secure the future of great British manufacturing.”

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho said:

“Today we are announcing nearly £1bn to back our green industries. While we’ve already attracted £200 billion in low carbon investment since 2010, with another £100 billion expected by 2030, this will unlock even more. We have long been energy pioneers in advanced manufacturing, and this will allow us to carry on that great British tradition.”

Today, the government has also published its response to Professor Dame Angela McLean’s review of the role that regulation and standards can play in driving innovation and growth in advanced manufacturing.

The government accepts all 14 recommendations in the industry expert-backed report which builds on the UK’s role as a global leader in setting industrial standards and sets out how, with the right regulations, advanced manufacturing processes can enhance safety and support the drive to net zero and a more sustainable economy.

Among the recommendations accepted is to accelerate the deployment of digital twins, which enables companies to create accurate digital replicas of the full manufacturing process. Used across a range of sectors, digital twins have seen significant uptake in the automotive sector including car production where they offer a transformative approach to product development, manufacturing and maintenance, helping firms test how to fix problems or make processes more efficient.

To boost growth in small and medium sized manufacturing businesses more widely, it has also been announced today that the government will expand the Made Smarter Adoption programme, offering the scheme to all English regions in 2025-26 before working with the Devolved Administrations to explore making the programme UK-wide from 2026-27.

The programme helps small and medium sized manufacturing companies to use advanced digital technologies which can reduce carbon emissions and drive-up productivity, and its expansion will also involve inclusion of digital internships.

Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation said:

“Make UK has long campaigned for Made Smarter to be a fully national scheme so that all SME manufacturers can benefit from the expertise the programme delivers and we are delighted at today’s decision from government to commit to a national rollout.

“Made Smarter has already transformed thousands of companies in the North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire & the Humber and now it can help turbo-charge industrial digitalisation in SMEs across the whole of the country. The end-to-end specialist support the programme delivers has successfully helped smaller businesses dramatically boost productivity, improve energy efficiency, drive growth, upskill roles and deliver new jobs in digital skills to create workforces of the future which will allow Britain’s smaller manufacturers to continue to grow and remain globally competitive.”

Additionally, the government has today committed to extend the Connected and Automated Mobility Research and Development programme with up to £150 million of funding between 2025-26 and 2029-30. This will help the UK secure first-mover advantage in the deployment of self-driving vehicles and services.

The UK’s first Battery Strategy is also expected to be published next week, which will outline the Government’s activity to achieve a globally competitive battery supply chain in the UK by 2030 that supports economic prosperity and the Net Zero transition.

We have also set out our plan to launch a Hydrogen industry taskforce, delivered in partnership with the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative and Innovate UK, supporting our ambition to maximise investment opportunities for UK manufacturing of hydrogen propulsion systems.

The government will set out more about its offer to the manufacturing sector next week with the publication of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan.

Further information

• Further information, including on the application processes, will be made available by the government in due course.
• The eight manufacturing sub-sectors that will be able to apply for funding are:
  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Life sciences
  • Clean energy (carbon capture, utilisation and storage, electricity networks, hydrogen, nuclear, and offshore wind)
• This targeted funding for sectors of economic strategic importance is in addition to wider support for the manufacturing sector such as:
  • the British Industry Supercharger ensuring energy costs for key industries like steel, metals, chemicals, and paper producers are in line with other major economies around the world
  • the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund supporting the deployment of technologies that is enabling hundreds of businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future
  • the lowest corporation tax in the G7
• The UK also has a world-leading track record on green deployment, and comprehensive, clear, and considered plans for our net zero transition.
• In Powering Up Britain, we have set out detailed deployment plans for every sector of the economy through the net zero transition. These include long-term frameworks to provide investors with certainty, from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to the Contracts for Difference Scheme. These are supported by public spending, with £30 billion for the green industrial revolution confirmed at Spending Review 2021, and a further £6 billion for energy efficiency and up to £20 billion for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) announced since then.