According to recent figures, last year, government departments made £16 billion in efficiency saving. This is equivalent to 4.1% of day-to-day spending.

Service design and digital transformation in the NHS were a significant contributor.

This includes new AI chest X-ray analysis supporting faster diagnoses for more than four million patients.  

Tech-enabled efficiencies have also been delivered in other departments. For example, DfE’s AI lesson-planning tool is saving teachers an average of around three hours a week, and the ‘Ask HMRC’ digital assistant is helping to handle a record 6.3 million interactions in 2024/25, freeing up around 400 staff for more complex work. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP said: "Giving families and businesses a bit of breathing space is only possible if we have strong public finances.  

"A central part of that is making sure we are a government that spends every pound with purpose.  

"And alongside this we are getting our deficit down, backed by the IMF who have forecast ours to be the lowest in the G7 by 2029.

"At my first Budget on 28 October, I will build on this work so we can provide breathing space for today, and hope for the future."