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Schools, housing and NHS face big cuts
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent19.03.09
BRITAIN faces painful public spending cuts to balance the books after the recession, experts warned today.
Transport, housing, health and social care, as well as services for children may have to be cut after the Government's huge increase in borrowing.
Town halls may even have to turn off the street lights at night to save money.
The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies says government forecasts for public finances may be hit by lower tax revenues, a growing bill for social security, the need for cash to pay for the bank bail-out and a possible rise in the cost of Treasury borrowing.
Robert Chote, director of the IFS, said fiscal tightening announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in the Pre-Budget report in November would gradually increase to 2.6 per cent of national income, or about £38billion by 2015 to 2016. He said 80 per cent of the tightening would come from public spending cuts.
"The Government has signalled that capital investment will be squeezed tighter than other spending, which suggests that transport, housing and the like might be relatively hard hit," he said.
"This assumes the fiscal tightening will be no tougher than that set out in the Pre-Budget report.
"But there are several reasons to believe the outlook for the public finances has deteriorated since. The biggest task for whoever is unfortunate enough to win the next general election will be to mop up the gallons of red ink spilt over the Government's finances."
Town hall chiefs have started a "doomsday study" of what services may need to be slashed.
"People are talking about possible reductions in public spending of 10 to 15 per cent, even up to 30 per cent," Trish Haines, president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, told the Financial Times, referring to spending after April 2011.
As well as concerns over levels of social, health and children services, she added: "We have to ask questions about street lighting, whether it should be left on all night."
David Cameron has signalled a shift in Tory policy to a tougher crackdown on public spending. The Conservatives have also unveiled a Labour Still Isn't Working poster harking back to a 1979 campaign featuring a dole queue after unemployment rose above two million.
Figures today are expected to show the UK going deeper into the red last month. Experts believe Mr Darling's forecast of £78billion in borrowing this year could soar towards £90 billion.
Reader views (9)
Lest we forget, when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, she more than doubled unemployment.
- Austen, London
What surprises me is that anyone should be surprised at this.
It's true that all of these CAN be pruned back, but as Nigel commented, it is the people actually doing the work that the public sector jobs are there to do that take the lion's share of the cuts. The front line people don't have the ability to pick and choose what is budgeted for and what is not the way the administrators do. The other people who would face the chop by the way, are usually the administrators who are honestly working as they are supposed to be, instead of covering their own backs.
The human race, as is all too often the case, leaves a lot to be desired, doesn't it!
- Rogan, Irving
And the deluded Harrier Harperson is trying to force struggling companies to pay females the same as men.
The same companies that prefer to employ men because they take less time off and have fewer and less expensive employment rights that the likes of Harperson are responsible for granting to female employees.
Someday the insanity of it all will come to an end... I hope.
- Vance Du Pont, Hastings, England
Of course Labour is working - it's working for all the layers of overpaid civil servants enjoying pay rises dna job security, it's working for all those public sector workers able to retire at 60 or earlier, it's working for all those getting massive pay-outs if made redundant (many then being hired back) and it's working for all those overpaid consultants. Come on Tories - get your facts right!!
- David B, Manchester
None of that will effect big business, politicians, or bankers.
So stop worrying.
The rest of us won't notice anything; we will continue to get nothing.
- Mickyinlondon, london
too much wastage in schools- huge amounts of materials paper, colours etc misused, large containers of food thrown away, instead of concentrating on maths english and science, there's too much waste of time and money on unnecessary subjects; cut off all minority languages in schools all teaching of religion except christianity which is the religion of the majority. minorities can teach their children their religion and language at home.
- Beljamine, uk
in my job, i attend many Education meetings in LEA's....the amount of PC waffle and red-tape is truly staggering. 90% of the meetings have no positive outcomes, just a set of vague ramblings that get 'referred' to other Departments for their 'approval' - and many people just fail to attend, leading to even more meetings ad nauseum! Often, Senior staff are on 'sick leave' or 'secondment' or 'maternity/paternity', meaning that meetings get adjourned with no decisions made. Because of the lack of urgency, and the percieved 'blame culture' - no-one is willing to actually make difficult decisions without 'senior approval'. The waste of time, money and resources is truly staggering!
- Gary, amersham
WHAT WAS IT BROWN SAID ABOUT THE NHS BEING SAFE? TYPICAL LABOUR> SAY ONE THING MEAN ANOTHER. ELSEWHERE YOU REPORT BILLIONS WILL BE SPENT ON THE OLYMPIC GAMES.
- Alan Green, Woodford Green
Everyone knows we need jobs cut in the public sector, as if private sector employees are losing their jobs then there is less tax too pay public sector staff with.
I'm curious why these spending cuts seem to go straight to the heart of front line staff which are needed, but there are few cuts in the monstrous bureaucracies that are the central government departments. I used to work at the DfT but left in despair-I reckon you could cut 25% of the jobs there and nothing would really change, because most people are busy doing things that don't actually have a discernible outcome. These people in similar jobs in other departments also need to go, and fast.
- Nigel, London UK
