Government saves £330 million for taxpayers through more efficient communications

13 Aug 2015 02:44 PM

Statistics released yesterday show the Government Communications Profession saved £330 million in 2014 to 2015 against a 2009 to 2010 baseline.

The Government Communications Profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010, by making its campaigns more cost effective.

This means that the profession reduced spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament, according to the latest audited figures. Government has also increased the effectiveness and capability of its communicators, winning over 80 national and international awards over the past year.

Providing the best value for taxpayer money will remain at the forefront of the government’s communication efforts. The total value of planned proactive communications in 2015 to 2016 is expected to be 50% less than it was in 2009 to 2010.

These savings have been possible thanks to the policies put in place since 2010 to make sure that every taxpayer penny counts. Policies include:

Partnering with the private sector has also played an important role in making savings:

Executive Director of Government Communications Alex Aiken said yesterday:

In the past, taxpayers’ money was too often spent on expensive and unnecessary marketing and advertising campaigns. We’ve put an end to that, and ensured that we track the implementation and effectiveness of everything we do.

Today’s figures are impressive, but we won’t stand still. That’s why we recently released our communications plan for the year ahead which commits us to delivering further value for taxpayer’s money and a more skilled, effective and focused service than ever before.

In July the government launched the fourth annual Government Communications Plan, setting out its overall vision for the Government Communication Service (GCS). The plan provides a clear focus for the year ahead and sets out how the government will:

Read the Government Communications Plan.