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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/billions-spent-on-vague-schemes.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Whitehall needs to trim down its least effective prorgammes, a report warns" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-billions-spent-on-vague-schemes.jpg" alt="Whitehall needs to trim down its least effective prorgammes, a report warns"/></a></p>
<p>Billions of pounds of taxpayers&#8217; money are committed to spending schemes on the basis of &#8220;vague hopes&#8221; of improving people&#8217;s lives, rather than solid evidence that the plans will work, a report has warned.</p>
<p>The report, from the Centre for Social Justice thinktank, called for a &#8220;fundamental shake-up&#8221; of the way that Whitehall spends public money to eliminate waste and boost results.</p>
<p>And it warned that, without a change of culture, the current £81 billion round of spending cuts could leave wasteful programmes in place, while shutting down ones which are valued by the public.</p>
<p>The report &#8211; entitled Outcome-Based Government &#8211; called for the establishment of an independent Office of Spending Effectiveness to scrutinise Government programmes to see whether they are delivering the required results and good value for money.</p>
<p>For decades, successive governments have focused more on outputs &#8211; such as numbers of police officers, teachers or social workers &#8211; than on the outcomes which matter to the public, like falling crime, better exam results or fewer drug addicts, said the report.</p>
<p>It urged the Government to spell out the intended outcomes of its programmes, to be more open about the impact of cuts and to focus on trimming the least effective schemes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Whitehall decisions about the allocation of £700bn of taxpayer&#8217;s money should be made on the basis of clearly defined objectives and not vague hopes of improving people&#8217;s lives,&#8221; said the thinktank, founded by current Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.</p>
<p>More than three-quarters of inquiries by the National Audit Office spending watchdog over the past four years have criticised the clarity of objectives, cost-effectiveness and implementation of Government policies.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the Commons Public Accounts Committee found that £1.2bn was spent each year on problem drug users, without the Government knowing what overall effect it was having.</p>
<p>CSJ executive director Gavin Poole said: &#8220;Taxpayer&#8217;s money should tackle real problems and improve people&#8217;s lives. Too often there is limited evidence to show this is the case.&#8221;</p>
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