Striking better deals saves more than £100 million

Striking better deals has pushed county council savings for Surrey taxpayers beyond £100 million in four years.

That sum would be enough to build almost a third of the school places the council needs to find to meet demand from a surging birth rate.

The negotiation work done by the council’s procurement team and staff in services saw more than £27m saved in the last financial year, sending the total to £109m in four years.

Savings have been generated by renegotiating contracts with the likes of IT businesses and building firms as well as through a joint purchasing initiative with East Sussex County Council.

Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Business Services Denise Le Gal said: “Coming up with ways to make every pound stretch further for taxpayers while providing high-quality services is at the core of everything we do.

“Saving more than £100m in four years – enough to cover a large chunk of the biggest ever school investment programme in Surrey’s history – is proof of that and we’ll continue to find better ways of doing things more efficiently.”