The Government's ambitious money saving approach has today seen staggering results as Francis Maude has revealed savings of £3.75 billion from May 2010 to March 2011.
The approach, which Maude announced last October, was to leave "no stone unturned" in the hunt for more savings at the centre of government, delivering better for less, to address the deficit while protecting the front line and to help departments live within their tighter budgets.
Savings were made in a number of ways including: reducing non essential discretionary spending, smarter procurement, scrutiny over ICT expenditure and the down-scaling of the civil service.
The money that has been saved is equivalent to the salaries of 200,000 junior nurses; or 150,000 secondary school teachers and could pay for several Whitehall departments.
Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude said:
"Last year, we promised to cut Labour's waste in Whitehall to reduce the deficit and help stop Labour's Jobs Tax. We have more than delivered on that promise.
"Yet Labour told us to carry on wasting money and slap a tax on jobs that business said would endanger the recovery. It's that kind of thinking that got us into this mess.
"These savings are just scratching the surface of what we have planned for the coming months and years. We will continue to root out and eradicate Whitehall waste while delivering on our plans to modernise our public services".