Work programme to cut spending on state sector administration enters new phase
The Ministry of Higher Education and Science has entered the analysis phase of its project to cut spending on state sector administration leading up to 2030. Some researchers at AU have been asked to contribute.
The Danish government is keen to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in the state sector. To achieve this aim, in June this year, it launched a work programme with a view to saving DKK 5.5 billion on state sector administration by 2030.
The work programme also applies to self-governing educational institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, where the goal is to reduce administrative expenses by a total of DKK 500 million. With this goal in mind, the Ministry will conduct analyses of administrative workflows, particularly in relation to research.
The Ministry has selected Boston Consulting Group to conduct these analyses, and the consulting group has requested that all Danish universities collect data on their administrative processes. As part of this data collection, Boston Consulting Group has asked universities to forward a survey to a sample of approximately 10 per cent of academic members of staff.
How much time do researchers spend on administration?
Around 500 researchers at Aarhus University have received an email inviting them to take a survey in which they describe the types of administrative tasks they perform and the amount of time they spend on them.
“I strongly encourage the researchers who have received the invitation to take the survey. The universities have gone into this process with the ambition that it will result in real simplifications of the rules – changes that researchers will notice in their daily working lives. That’s why it’s important for the Ministry and Boston Consulting Group to get a real sense of the day-to-day lives of researchers when they carry out their analyses,” says university director Kristian Thorn.
The first round of administrative savings are expected to be phased in with the 2027 Finance Bill. It has not yet been determined how the DKK 500 million saved by self-governing institutions will be distributed across the sector.
- Read the Ministry of Finance’s article about the work programme (published in June 2025 – in Danish)