Pat McFadden

The civil service has grown from 430,000 to 445,000 — a net increase of 15,000 posts — in the year since McFadden launched the efficiency programme. The government's own Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group acknowledged this was "inconsistent" with the stated goal of headcount reduction. The primary drivers are: new regulatory roles created by post-Brexit frameworks; expansion of HMRC and DWP for welfare reform delivery; and growth in NHS England administrative functions. At an average all-in employment cost of £55,000, this adds £825m to the annual wage bill — roughly £2.50/month per household.

Management consultant spend rose 22.6% to £3.8bn — a direct contradiction of the efficiency pledge. The irony is that much of this spend is being directed at the efficiency programme itself: departments have hired major consultancies including McKinsey, Deloitte and PwC to design the very reforms that were supposed to reduce external consultant dependency. Critics in the Public Accounts Committee called this "paying consultants to tell us how to use fewer consultants." The NAO has flagged that departments lack the internal capability to implement transformation programmes without expensive external support — a skills gap that was not addressed before the efficiency drive began.

The £20bn pledge was made at the October 2024 Budget as a key plank of the government's fiscal strategy. As of May 2026, only £3.8bn in credible efficiency savings have been identified — 19% of the target with less than 18 months remaining before the 2027 deadline. Cabinet Office officials privately told the PAC that £10-12bn was "realistic" with full departmental cooperation, meaning the government may achieve around 50-60% of its own target. The £16.2bn shortfall requires either additional tax rises, further borrowing, or public service cuts to bridge.

Only 61% of major government IT projects are delivered on budget — against a 90% target. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority's 2026 review found persistent systemic problems: unclear requirements at project inception, contract structures that incentivise cost escalation, insufficient in-house technical expertise to challenge supplier claims, and inadequate project governance. The Universal Credit rollout, Home Office caseworking systems, and HMRC's Making Tax Digital programme have all experienced significant cost overruns in 2025/26. Total IT project overspends cost taxpayers approximately £1.6bn above budget in the last financial year.

Britain Needs Us calculates that identified government inefficiency under McFadden's remit costs the average UK household approximately £9/month — £108 per year — in excess taxation above what efficient government would require. This covers: £2.30/mo from consultant overspend; £3.10/mo from civil service growth; £1.60/mo from IT failures; £0.70/mo from empty government buildings; £0.80/mo from lost legal disputes; and £0.50/mo from the AI savings shortfall. Had the £20bn efficiency target been met, this cost could theoretically be zero — and taxes could be approximately £720/year lower per household.