The cabinet office has announced that it will rope in “digital gurus” from “major tech players” to improve the tech skills of civil servants and help the government run more efficiently.

The government said it plans to work with and will target experts from FSTE100 companies, with civil servants will be given the chance to work in leading businesses to improve their skills.

A series of programmes will start in the autumn and focus on areas including productivity, science, data and artificial technology (AI).

Minister for the cabinet said that the move is designed to “overhaul the way digital and data is utilised in government departments”.

Commenting on the news Jeremy Quin added that every member of the civil service needs to “call out” inefficiency.

“There are brilliant people in our civil service but I know there are many, as can be the case in any organisation, that feel frustrated and stiffed by bureaucracy.”

He added: “They can do so by more specialisation, more access to outside voices and fresh ideas, staying longer in post, delivering certainty on what we are seeking to achieve and benefitting from crisp evaluation on whether we have, while embracing the digital future which will transform all our working lives.”

Quin added that the government will install a new digital platform designed to move civil servants seamlessly between departments. He said this will allow the civil service to be more agile and save around £100 million over the next five years.

The government claims it has it has saved around $4.4 billion over the last financial year in its latest efficiency drive. Over £1.3 billion was saved through fraud prevention and £370 million was saved by modernising legacy IT systems.

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