"We are ...attacking the three causes of a bigger state and rising public spending.
"First, the cost of social failure – social problems rack up the biggest bills for government.
"Second, the cost of unreformed public services..massive top-down state monopolies cost more and deliver less.
"And third, the cost of bureaucracy itself...a halt to wasteful spending and inefficiency.
"It’s about a whole new method of government."

Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP, Prime Minister

GovToday presents Efficiency and Procurement 2011 - Promoting Fairness and Growth Conference and Exhibition, which will be held on the Thursday 24th March, The Brewery, London.

In the Spending Review announced on the 20th October 2010, Chancellor George Osborne outlined the Coalition Government's four-year plan to put "public services... on a sustainable footing - for the long term". At £109 billion, the UK has the largest structural budget deficit in Europe, the Coalition Government has, therefore, signalled a period of consolidation to take place over the next 4 years, based on lower public spending and structural reform.

Capital spending now outlined by the Government is approximately £2 billion higher than that set out in the June budget, with total public expenditure - capital and current - at £702 billion next year, £713 billion, £724 billion and £740 billion in 2014-15.

At the heart of this challenge for the public sector lies managing efficient and sustainable operations - worth approximately £30 billion - and the procurement of goods and services - £220 billion annually - amid tight economic constraints.

To date, the Government has outlined plans to reduce £6.2 billion of "wasteful spending", with much of this money to be used to reduce the above deficit, underpinned by a far-reaching programme of public service reform. "We have begun by squeezing every last penny we can find out of waste and administration costs - quangos will be abolished, services integrated, assets sold and the administrative budgets of every main government department cut by a third."

In order to aid delivery of dramatic cuts in spending and the increases required in efficiency across Government, the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) based at the Cabinet Office, in the heart of government, will bring together the cross-government operational functions - procurement, project management, IT and Civil Service workforce and reform - with a remit to tackle waste and improve transparency and accountability across government.

Central to the Review is the reshaping of public services, the dramatic shift in the balance of power from the centre to the locality, together with the recognition that public services do not have to be delivered by government.

The Government has declared that cutting the budget deficit will involve doing things differently – "thinking innovatively about the Government’s role in society, taking the decisions about Britain’s future collectively, ensuring that fairness is at the heart of those decisions and that everyone has their say – delivering the real change that Britain needs".

Local government remains an important area of reform, currently charged with delivering £1.165 billion of efficiency savings, 7.1 per cent of savings a year for four years. Local authorities will be given increased 'flexibility' to make savings, with 'ring-fences' around over 90 core government grants removed from April 2010, and 4,700 local area agreement targets scrapped.

As Chancellor George Osborne recently affirmed:

"We are shaping the economy of the future by promoting a pro-growth agenda...we are shaping the big society of the future by decentralising power and empowering people... we are shaping the public services of the future by reforming the public sector so it delivers value for money...Fairness and growth. Two guiding principles we will apply to the decisions Britain has to take."

Efficiency and Procurement 2011 - Promoting Fairness and Growth will analyse the opportunities available and the potential challenges that lie ahead in delivering the required programme of efficiency, reform and economic stability for the UK.