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Darling vows to cut even more from Whitehall
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor18.11.08
LABOUR moved to outflank the Conservatives on spending cuts today with a warning that Alistair Darling will slash more than £30billion from Whitehall costs.
The Chancellor signalled that he would find bigger than expected efficiency savings in IT costs, procurement deals and sales of its assets and property.
He said that "people expect the Government to be tightening its belt, just as people are at home". In a clearly co-ordinated move, Treasury Chief Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Cabinet that she and the Chancellor believed there was "scope" to go well beyond the £30billion savings already demanded in the last Budget.
The new push to slash Whitehall costs, which could release up to £40 billion over the next three years, will be revealed in detail in next week's pre-Budget report.
No10 confirmed that the savings drive, the Operational Efficiency Programme, will focus on five areas with each being led by an experienced private sector chief to extract as much "value for money" for the taxpayer.
Mr Darling will also encourage frontline professionals and the users of public services to bring forward their own ideas on how to cut waste. The issue of efficiency savings dominated today's Cabinet meeting, with Ms Cooper relating how costs had been cut by £26 billion in the last spending three-year review - greater than the original target of £21 billion.
The savings drive, led by Sir Peter Gershon on the orders of Gordon Brown, had also slashed the number of civil service posts by 86,500, well above the original 70,000 target.
