In an era of tightening budgets and growing public scrutiny, governments around the world have undertaken efficiency reforms to deliver savings, avoid waste, and redirect funding toward frontline services. These case studies of successful government saving reforms demonstrate scalable methods—from procurement reform to digital transformation—that a DOGE-style efficiency unit (like Reform UK’s UK DOGE or a Conservative DOGE) could adapt to benefit UK taxpayers.
1. Whitehall’s Efficiency & Reform Group: £10 billion a year saved
One of the UK’s most notable successes came via the Efficiency & Reform Group under the Cabinet Office and Treasury, which surpassed its £8 billion savings target, delivering £10 billion in annual savings, equivalent to nearly £600 per working household in the UK Financial TimesGOV.UK+1Wikipedia+1Government Business+1Wikipedia+1. These reforms included:
Reducing civil service size and reforming pensions,
Centralised procurement via Crown Commercial Service (CCS),
Digitising services to streamline delivery.
The key lessons: central coordination, bulk procurement, and digital redesign can yield massive returns.
2. Infrastructure Cost Review: £50 billion saved over a decade
Following a government‐commissioned review in 2010, Infrastructure UK identified inefficiencies across major projects such as highways, HS2 and London Underground works. By 2014, annual savings reached £3 billion, exceeding targets; the program anticipated £50 billion in savings over the decade through better procurement, risk sharing, and planning standardisation Government BusinessOpen Banking Expo+2Wikipedia+2Reddit+2Wikipedia.
Core insight: better governance and benchmarking on large capital projects significantly increase cost control and reduce overruns.
3. Government Fraud & Digital Transformation: billions thwarted through analytics
A 2021 Cabinet Office report outlines how data analytics and counter‑fraud measures prevented £139 million of PPE losses, while digital transformation delivered around £142 million in IT cost savings through unified systems like DEFRA’s Unity programme GOV.UK.
Commandeering overlapping digital contracts and performing forensic data audits can stop waste before it occurs.
4. Departmental Efficiency Targets: £13.8 billion by 2028‑29
A recent UK spending review set clear targets: a 16% cut in admin budgets and overall efficiency savings of 5% across departments, amounting to £13.8 billion in annual efficiencies by 2028–29 Wikipedia+15Civil Service World+15Business Insider+15. These come through overhead reductions, shared admin services, and reassigning funds to frontline priorities.
5. Local council innovations: smarter commissioning & shared procurement
Case studies such as Essex County Council, Kingston-upon-Thames, North Yorkshire, and others highlight local savings through evidence-based commissioning and collaboration:
Essex saved £510,000 through CareCubed procurement tools in adult social care placements iese.org.uk+1studylib.net+1.
Kingston and other councils saved 26% on school expansion costs and £2m in assistive technology locations via shared contracts studylib.net.
Local councils that pool resources and commission intelligently generate consistent value.
What DOGE Can Deliver: Amplifying These Results
A Government Efficiency Unit—UK DOGE—could replicate and augment these results by leveraging the following approaches:
🔹 Procurement and Shared Services
Building on lessons from CCS and council collaboration, DOGE could aggregate purchasing, negotiate better contract terms, and drive standardised vendor frameworks—potentially saving £4–8 billion annually in central procurement alone Open Banking Expo+12National Audit Office (NAO)+12iese.org.uk+12Reddit+1Wikipedia+1.
🔹 Counter‑Fraud & Data Analytics
By deploying AI‐driven analytics to flag anomalies in transactions—such as duplicate payments or ghost contracts—DOGE could replicate the £139 million PPE fraud prevention and scale this across sectors—including social care and benefits.
🔹 Digital Transformation
Guided by principles from McKinsey and GOV.UK’s digital services evolution, DOGE could help replace legacy IT systems, consolidate platforms, and automate bureaucratic transactions. Research suggests 84% of complex transactions in UK central government are automatable, saving 1,200 person-years annually with modest automation efforts arXiv.
🔹 Infrastructure Oversight
Using Infrastructure UK’s framework, DOGE could audit major mega-project viability, reduce cost escalation, and embed governance across projects, saving billions over time.
🔹 Capacity Building and “Invest to Save”
McKinsey research emphasizes that successful cost reform reinvests savings to fund further change: cost-focused transformations that allocate savings to reinvestments are 46% more likely to succeed mckinsey.com.
Projected Savings & Taxpayer Benefits
If UK DOGE adopts best practices from these case studies, Conservative analysts estimate cumulative savings of:
£10 bn from procurement & shared services,
£1–2 bn from fraud prevention and digital automation,
£3–5 bn from rationalising large infrastructure projects,
£2 bn from administrative efficiencies via central oversight.
Total: £15–20 bn annually, potentially more as digital transformation scales.
For UK households, even £10 bn in realised savings equates to approx. £300 per household per year, either through reduced pressure on council tax, improved service delivery, or slower public spending growth.
Ensuring Success: Lessons from the Real World
To avoid pitfalls and mistrust, DOGE must follow proven principles:
Sufficient staffing and expert capability are essential—successful reforms have 92% staffing adequacy versus just 50% in failed efforts mckinsey.com.
Transparency & independent verification ensure public trust.
Protecting essential services while targeting waste—learning from past reforms ensures no harm to vulnerable citizens.
Using data & benchmarking, as seen in Infrastructure UK and digital governance, for systematic oversight.
✅ Conclusion
These case studies of successful government saving reforms highlight what’s possible when governments deploy strategic, data-driven, and coordinated efficiency reforms:
£10 bn saved through procurement and civil service reform,
£50 bn across infrastructure improvements over a decade,
£139m in fraud prevented, plus hundreds in digital savings,
£13.8 bn in departmental savings committed by 2029.
A DOGE‑style efficiency unit in the UK—centralised, technocratic, empowered—could take these lessons further, unlocking £15–20 bn annually, easing taxpayer burdens, and improving public services.
The key: implementing reforms with investment, analysis, and accountability—not just top-down cuts. The path is clear: adapt proven measures, scale with data and tech, and put savings back where they belong—with the public.