Former HM Revenue and Customs chairman Sir David Varney has been appointed as the prime minister’s adviser on public service transformation.

Varney’s influential Treasury-commissioned report on the subject, published with November’s pre-Budget Report, emphasised the central role of technology in bringing UK government services into the 21st century.

Key recommendations include the creation of a single point of contact for citizens, the development of an effective multi-channel delivery strategy, and a joined-up identity management scheme.

‘Technological advances are becoming perhaps the most important factor in transforming our service sectors,’ Varney wrote in Computing last month.

‘Over the next 10 years, government has an opportunity to provide better public services at a lower cost to taxpayers. The key lies in the way we invest in and deploy new technology.’

The appointment holds particular interest in the light of scepticism over the new prime minister’s commitment to the controversial national biometric identity card scheme.