In the last year the civil service has taken on some 16,000 additional staff to cope with the changes resulting from the Modernising government programme. This 3.4% rise to a total of 475,000 reverses a 20 year trend of a decline in size of the civil service.The demand for more staff illustrates the fact that change always come with a price tag. What the figures do not reveal is that staff already in post have been required to keep the services going, while new people have been recruited to provide new services and develop new ways of doing things. Frequently this means that new skills are required such as operating and managing call centres and developing electronic systems. Although new technology will bring job losses in the more traditional work areas, there is likely to be a growing demand for new skills across the public sector.
The target of purchasing 90% of goods electronically by 2001 has spurred on departments and agencies to make greater use of the Government Procurement Card. The card, which is run by Via International, was introduced in 1997 and in the first two years it was used for transactions worth13.4 million pounds. At the launch it was claimed that it could save the taxpayer some 70 million pounds annually.Use of the card increased almost 300% in the last year with the transaction total rising to 44 million pounds and the number of departments and agencies using it increasing from 44 to 115. Low value ordering makes up 80% of the purchasing transactions conducted by Government and there is now a general recognition that the card offers one of the best options for meeting the target.
