Savings of up to 22% being made by the Department for Work and Pensions on its 拢700m overhaul of job centres and benefits offices could lead to other government departments adopting the same partnering-style framework deal.

Peter O鈥機onnor, works programme manager for the estate department, said savings of 12% had been achieved between 2002, when the four-year DWP overhaul started, and 2003. He wants to save another 10% in the third and fourth years.

O鈥機onnor, who was brought in as manager in 2002 on secondment from Lend Lease, said he was in talks with other government departments to make similar savings.

Speaking at the Annual Construction Marketing Conference last week, O鈥機onnor said: 鈥淲e want to help them [government departments]. This is a leap of faith but we want to make sure they understand that if you gain the trust of the industry they will deliver.鈥�

O鈥機onnor said his department had switched from using traditional procurement methods in the first year of the programme, which he said were 鈥渟low and inefficient鈥�, to a framework deal in the second.

The deal is with 11 regional works contractors and 15 key suppliers. O鈥機onnor said the department employed consultants on an individual basis rather than firms.

This is a leap of faith, but if you gain the trust of the industry they will deliver

Peter O鈥機onnor, Department for Work and Pensions

O鈥機onnor said that the department had not used QSs in the second year and had scrapped planning supervisors, who O鈥機onnor described as a 鈥渢otal waste of time鈥�. Instead, the department trained 16 individuals who carried out a safety audit on every project.

He added that the department had also introduced behavioural training for workers at a cost of 拢1.6m, which had already reduced accidents, and that 95% of workers on programme were CSCS compliant.

The Jobcentre Plus programme involves creating 1000 joint job centres and benefits offices in the UK.