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LONDON - The UK's new government plans to detail about GBP6 billion ($ 8.69 billion) in immediate budget cuts Friday as the finance minister, George Osborne, begins to flesh out how the UK treasury deficit will narrow the GBP156 billion budget.
Mr. Osborne is expected to announce plans that would save about GBP513 million from a cull of nondepartmental executive agencies, and GBP163 million from restraining public-sector hiring via a recruitment freeze, according to a person familiar with the situation. In addition, he is set to announce cuts of more than GBP1 billion in discretionary spending, including savings from cutting travel costs and consultancy fees. He would therefore seek efficiencies in continuing programs.
It remains unclear, however, where the residual of the GBP6 billion in savings will come from, with some warning of public-sector job cuts and damage to front-line public services if cuts are not carefully designed.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government has made paring the deficit and safeguarding the UK's triple-A credit rating its key domestic-policy goal, saying failure to cut spending and make savings could leave the UK Greek-like facing a debt crisis.
That argument has found backing from Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives' junior coalition partners recession, despite their early warning before the election that spending cuts could send the economy back into.
"I do not think we anticipated then quite sharply how things had deteriorated in the euro zone," Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said on BBC television Sunday.
"I do not think anybody could have predicted the situation in Greece this would have knock-on effect ... on the export of our services and goods," he said. "We're connected with the euro zone, and that is why we have to get to grips with the black hole in our public finances."
Mr. Clegg was speaking after London's Sunday Times reported that spending cuts by the new UK government could mean job cuts of 300 000 public over the coming years, possibly rising to as much as 700,000.
The Conservatives had promised before the May 6 election to find spending cuts in GBP6 billion in the current financial year, which started last month. But the party repeatedly pledged to safeguard frontline services and the poorest Britons.
Some of the sharpest spending cuts will come at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Where the minister, Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, is expected to see his department's budget - the government's fourth largest - slashed by GBP900 million.
Mr. Clegg said Mr. Cable, who slammed the Conservatives for their early spending-cut plans before the election, understands the need to find savings.
Mr. Clegg, therefore criticized the former Labour government pledges made during its final days in office, saying it is becoming obvious to the coalition government that the Labour Party "were throwing money around like there was no tomorrow."
Former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling last week called claims the Labour government had been profligate with spending decisions in its final days "nonsense."
Mr. Osborne is expected to announce Monday that is trimming the government's air-travel costs GBP3 billion and reducing spending on consultants. He is expected to weigh AXING low-volume government-run call centers and transferring some 6.000 online paper-based tax forms.
So Mr. Osborne is expected to cite examples of wasteful spending, including GBP5 million spent on the Play Strategy, which outlines the short, medium and long-term objectives of bringing to life children's right to play, said a person familiar with the situation.
In his BBC interview, Clegg said that His plan for a referendum on voting reform were going ahead and that he Hoped to have a timetable in place for this as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, in other words speaking to the BBC, Labour leader hopeful Andy Burnham outlined the changes he thought his party needed to make to regain Power.
"I think Labour did great things, but there was a perception that we were not listening to people, at least from my point of view, especially to people who found life hard during the recession,"
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