Government departments should look to the capital’s boroughs when it seeks to save money, according to London Councils which represents London’s 33 local authorities.
According to the body, in the financial year 2008/09, London’s local authorities made £376 million of efficiency savings, exceeding the target set by central government by almost £100 million.
Chairman of London Councils Councillor Merrick Cockell said:
“If the government is looking for ways to deliver more efficiency savings they could do a lot worse than look at the example set for them by London’s boroughs.
“Our track record of delivering value for money services speaks for itself, and it was thanks to our success at generating savings that so many of our boroughs were able to freeze council taxes this year.
“We would be more than happy to support the government in its attempts to follow our example.”
The comments come amid speculation that Chancellor Alistair Darling will announced greater efficiency targets for Westminster derived services in tomorrow’s budget.
