Three former efficiency advisers to the Labour government are to sit on the Conservative's new productivity board, it has been announced.

A defence procurement expert, the man behind the Gershon efficiency drive and one of the authors of the Treasury's recent Operational Efficiency Programme report have all agreed to join the Tory's Productivity Advisory Board.

Shadow Treasury minister Philip Hammond announced last week that the board would advise him on how government could be made more efficient. The board, whose confidential meetings are to be held monthly, is expected to continue advising the party if they win the next election.

Bernard Gray, a former journalist and now chairman of TSL Education, was recently commissioned by the then defence minister John Hutton to carry out a major review of defence procurement. Previous to that he produced the 1998 Strategic Defence Review while special adviser to then defence secretary George Robertson.

Sir Peter Gershon, currently chairman of Tate and Lyle, produced the government's first efficiency review in 2004, setting the standard for efficiency programmes in later comperhensive spending review periods and the recent Operational Efficiency Programme. He became the first chief executive of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) after his report identified the need for a central body that could drive reductions in procurement spending.

Dr Martin Read, formerly chief executive of IT services company Logica and now on a number of business and charitable boards, was one of four high profile names asked to set out further efficiency savings in the Operational Efficiency Programme published with last year's Budget.

Also on the board is Lord Peter Levene, who advised then Conservative prime minister John Major on 'efficiency and effectiveness' between 1992 and 1997, Westminster City Council leader Colin Barrow and Lucy Neville-Rolfe, a Tesco executive and former civil servant.