If the government overcame its lacklustre approach to competition and gave private and other independent providers the opportunity to run a much larger share of public services, it could realise savings of £22.6bn (€28bn; $37bn) or more a year, says a new report from the Confederation of British Industry.1

Pressure on all areas of public services resulting from changing demographics and a need to make savings means that “business as usual is not an option,” said John Cridland, director general of the CBI, at a press briefing to launch its report. The CBI represents 240 000 businesses in the United Kingdom.

Despite the publication of the white paper on open public services last July, the government has so far lacked the momentum to push the policy, said Cridland.

He said that the government …