The UK government has made £450 million of ICT savings in the past ten months, the Cabinet Office announced today.

It saved £300 million by "applying greater scrutiny to our ICT expenditure" , the department said in a statement, adding the government departments had stopped or reduced their spend on low value ICT projects. The other £150 million was stripped out of 2010/11 budgets for major government projects, either halting or pruning spending.

The £450 million total is part of an overall government saving of £3.75 billion since May 2010.

In a statement, Maude said that the savings followed on from a promise to drive inefficiency and unjustified costs out of central government.

"It is these savings, which have been achieved in just ten months, that have allowed departments to protect essential front line services and jobs," he said. "Following an independent audit, I can confirm today that these measures have saved central government departments £3.75 billion."