Whitehall is in need of urgent reform, business leaders say The public sector wastes at least £25bn a year because of a failure to reform outdated procurement and outsourcing practices, business leaders say.The Institute of Directors argues that most state-run bodies "do their own thing" when it comes to money. It says at least £15bn can be saved from annual procurement spending and £10bn from public organisations working together more efficiently. The institute is calling for reform of the public sector within a year. Its report says the UK's "staggering" annual £220bn procurement spending total represents a third of government spending and costs every person an average £3,500 a year. 'Out of business'It adds: "Despite some areas of excellence and good collaborative initiatives, the majority of public procurement spending is so fragmented that huge potential savings are being missed every year." If multi-national companies operated on a similar pattern "they would have gone out of business years ago", the institute says.[Read more...]