E-portfolios; a way of helping reduce government spending?

My natural instincts are to be reticent about providing any government with information about how they can reduce public spending. I spent 25 years working in the public sector and admire much of the work that takes place. Indeed I once cheekily said that when I moved to working for a private company, that I was coming to bring the rigours of the public sector to the private sector. Nevertheless I do accept that some publicly funded programmes could be delivered more cost effectively.

The delivery of NVQs in whatever guise, be it through the Train to Gain programme or as part of an apprenticeship programme, is undoubtedly one example of where if electronic methods were properly adopted substantial savings to the public purse could be made or to put in a better way the same amount of money could deliver more qualifications.

We have recently reviewed how much it costs to deliver an NVQ and it is easy to see how significant savings can be made primarily in reducing the bureaucracy and reporting that is required to support the process of assessment and verification. Indeed we have estimated that the savings could be as much as £300 a learner. If that is multiplied by the 1.2 million candidates who are registered for NVQs each year then you are looking at a substantial saving.

I have therefore broken the habit of a lifetime and have found a way to send this information into government