Comment & Analysis

Four businessmen will be appointed on Thursday to drive the next stage of the government's efficiency review aimed at releasing billions for investment in public services after 2010.

Patrick Carter, the Labour peer who chaired the government's review of Wembley Stadium, will take forward a study of the public sector's use of property after the National Audit Office found £330m - more than a third of the amount departments spend on offices - could be saved if private sector best practice were followed.

Lord Carter's remit will stretch to the wider public sector, looking not just at surplus land that could be sold or used for housing but also at how buildings in use could be released, with cash saved, for the same purpose.

The efficiency drive comes on top of the government's existing commitment to save £30bn over the next three years - already a larger and more demanding target than the Gershon efficiency drive launched in 2004.

Yvette Cooper, chief secretary to the Treasury, said on Wednesday: "It is always the right thing to do to improve value for money." But she added: "While we have had very big increases in investment over recent years, we know there will have to be a much lower increase in investment in the next spending round [which starts in 2010].

"So we need savings in some areas to fund increases in others. This is a new phase of the efficiency programme looking at how we can achieve significant savings beyond those on which we are already working".

The four private sector experts will each take charge of a strand of work. Aside from property, back-office functions, where progress since the first Gershon review has been disappointing, the wider use of IT where government programmes have struggled to arrive on time and/or on budget will also be reviewed.

A fresh attempt will be made to get "a step change" in collective procurement in the wider public sector, particularly in areas such as utilities and travel.

Asset management will be reviewed, with the government owning a wide range of non-property fixed assets and intellectual property, estimated to be worth more than £800bn. And a fifth strand will look at incentives on a local level for public sector staff to discover and implement efficiencies.

Each strand will consider how the government can work more effectively with the private sector, Ms Cooper said. IT and back-office functions required a fresh look "because a lot has moved on in the private sector in these areas over the past five years and we need to look at the most up to date lessons".