Anti-pattern 7.6
The Gate Set Too Low
A central spending control spends most of its effort on the decisions that matter least.
In This Context
A central team uses its position on the money flow as a gate: spending above a threshold needs its approval, and it uses that approval to change what gets built and bought. The UK Government Digital Service (GDS) did this for government digital and technology spending.
Therefore
The threshold is set low, so that the gate catches as much spending as possible.
Consequently
- The gate does change what departments build and buy.
- In 2015–16, approvals for amounts of up to £1 million took 47% of the time GDS staff spent on spending controls, but produced only 1% of the savings.
- The National Audit Office found the savings from GDS’s controls among those with weaker methods behind them, and some poorly evidenced savings were removed before the claim was published.
- A better approach: fit the threshold to where the savings are.
Seen In
Chapter 17, “Central Budget” (NAO 2014 and 2017 footnotes). Facts as given there. Compare the spending thresholds in Chapter 15, “Other Ways to Find Room”.