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Sir Keir Starmer is due to launch a major six-month review of all government spending next week, with ministers being asked to make their case for public funding shortfalls in line-by-line negotiations with the Treasury.
The British Prime Minister has warned ministries they will have to fight for funding within the tight Whitehall spending limits set by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her October Budget in a so-called “zero-based” review. .
“It’s going to be a bruise, but we have to do it,” said one government official. In a letter to ministers on Tuesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Darren Jones will set out the terms of the spending review by June next year.
Mr Starmer’s supporters say the money will be allocated according to the priorities set out in the Chancellor’s ‘transformation plan’, announced on Thursday, which will focus on living standards, housing and infrastructure, hospitals, early childhood education, green The focus was on energy, crime.
Starmer also faces pressure to increase military spending, with a defense review due early next year to report on how and when Britain should increase spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of national income. I would.
The Prime Minister reinforced his message to spending cabinet members on Friday that they can no longer count on additional taxes or borrowing to boost public spending.
questioner BBC Breakfast On whether taxes would be raised again in this parliament, Mr Starmer said:
“The only thing I can’t say is that there are no unforeseen circumstances in the future that won’t make any difference at all.”
The Reeves budget set spending limits for departments in 2025-26, in a £40bn package of tax increases that would pump billions of pounds into public services this year and next.
But the Prime Minister postponed making difficult long-term decisions on public spending, with overall spending growth expected to slow to a real annual rate of 1.3% from 2025-26.
Writing in the Financial Times on Friday, Reeves said he would bring in private sector experts to advise on how to get the most bang for the buck from the spending review effort.
“In order to maximize the value of every pound, the spending review will be done on a zero basis, meaning every line represents value for money and is assessed based on whether it represents value for money and is a priority for this Government. “It will be done,” she said.
“There are no vanity projects. There are no distractions. There are no gimmicks. But practical goals are based on whether our people feel in their daily lives that we have delivered the changes we promised.” ,” Reeves added.
Meanwhile, Mr Starmer on Thursday sought to quell anger within the civil service over his claim that “too many people in Whitehall are used to immersing themselves in the tepid waters of managed decline”. And so.
Dave Penman, head of the FDA trade union, which represents 20,000 of the most senior civil servants, said Mr Starmer’s words were “a direct insult to the people who seek to deliver and lead public services”.
In his letter to Starmer, Mr Penman condemned the prime minister’s “Trumpian language” and said civil servants needed to be “motivated and inspired, not ridiculed and vilified”. he added.
Whitehall insiders say the prime minister was warned that his comments were causing anger. Mr Starmer later tried to defuse the controversy, saying civil servants “have a strong sense of public service in everything they do”.
But he said: “At the same time, we know we have to push for reform. We have to govern in a better way. And when I talk to civil servants, they understand that, too. I know what I want.”
