I still think the motivation for moving the lamp posts back, is to reduce the damage from traffic. I do not believe current lamps are unable to be angled to also illuminate the pavement immediately behind them.
The fall out from this is there will need to be loads more sign posts to display the traffic warnings that were previously strapped to the lampposts.

As long as the pavements are not blocked, then fine and I guess we need to take it on trust that this all makes sense economically.

However the information I saw on a non-delivered circular in the gutter suggests the real savings are to be made by each lamppost being able to be controlled remotely - ie turned off.

Wasteful and polluting as it is to leave all the lights on for 1 car/pedestrian an hour in the dead of night, I would have thought there is a strong correlation between crime and how (badly) an area is lit.

Maybe selected roads can be pretty much blacked out on rotation without any ill effect, but we are going to have to keep an eye on this to see how it develops.