Haha, good thread this.
So, it seems we are virtually powerless to get money-saving ideas "shoved up" the chain of command.
Therefore, I visited the spending challenge and sent off some ideas with the caveat " I wish to remain anonymous to my organization" placed in the text...
Whilst I completely agree with many of the above ideas. e.g. Allowances should become flat rate and completely simplified, I'm not sure that we'd be able to offer a large enough saving to warrant close attention at this stage. The shocking thing about the previous government's wanton overspend is the scale (25%) of savings that are needed right now. The coalition government have a couple of months to sort this out.
I think it may be big ticket purchase items, branches, fleets and stations that need considering at this stage or we will be fiddling while Rome burns.
If we, at the coalface, don't put forward ideas; savings will be forced upon us, and the solutions may not be entirely sensible.... ! At least we have been asked by the coalition. There couldn't possibly be a lethal cocktail of self-interest, protectionism and backstabbing going on in the higher echelons...
errr...these are my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer!!