IT is one of four key areas of focus in a successor review to the Gershon programme that will be launched in the next year.

Gershon is widely seen as a success in the public sector and has helped deliver up to £23bn in savings since 2004.

A main focus of the new review will be on bulk buying of public sector goods and services, of which IT forms a large part.

With annual IT spending of £14bn, the public sector has significant market influence, and could gain better economies of scale with more joined-up procurement.

The Treasury today cited JPA - a joint personnel management system for all three armed forces – as a primary example of how IT could help improve efficiency in the public sector, citing a £45m annual saving.

But last year Computing was deluged with complaints from service personnel and HR professionals about the JPA system, citing unpaid wages, confused allowances and difficulties in sorting out problems.