State pension service could be privatised under DWP plans

by Irn Bru Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:11 pm

Department for Work and Pensions considers privatisation as part of search for savings as budget shrinks by a third
The government is considering saving money by privatising the delivery of the state pension, according to Whitehall documents seen by the Guardian.

In an effort to make up billions more in austerity savings, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has initiated a review of how it issues 4.5m pension statements each year and the administration of £100bn in public money to millions of pensioners in the UK and around the world.

The review – which is entitled DWP Efficiency Review, runs to over 80 pages and is marked "restricted" – also considers how to make cost savings in the way the department handles three quarters of a million phone calls and the distribution of £98bn in benefits and tax credits.

Whitehall's biggest department is facing an "unprecedented reform challenge", says the document, which was distributed to senior civil servants in January. By 2016 the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will have his operational budget slashed by 34% to £6.3bn from £9bn in 2009-10. Almost £2bn of those savings will need to be made in the next two financial years.

The documents say ministers and civil servants now need to "consider some more strategic shifts" such as looking at how the state pension and other benefits for over-65s are managed in order to meet demands by the chancellor, George Osborne, to drastically cut their overheads. "This includes a review of the pension service's current delivery model and alternative delivery models," the document says.

More here...

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/09/state-pension-service-privatisation-dwp-plans

Whatever next? I wonder which company would be awarded that contract and how much they would expect to make? Of course if they can't make enough money out of it they can always hand it back - at a price.

by Guest Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:47 pm

How can a private company do it for less money when they have to make a profit? Well of course, the answer to that is, less money for what it is intended.

State pension service could be privatised under DWP plans

State pension service could be privatised under DWP plans

Re: State pension service could be privatised under DWP plans