Conservatives propose to slim down Defra “flab”
A new report from the Conservatives’ James Review has identified £477 million of potential savings at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The review team previously announced savings of £1.725 billion from the NHS and £1 billion from local government.
The recommendations are not, as yet, official Conservative policy, but heavyweight figures such as Shadow Environment and Transport Secretary, Tim Yeo, were present at the launch to add their support.
Mr Yeo said that the latest element of the James Review’s work was a “huge step forward”
Highlighting his previous experience, such as his term as Minister for Environment and Countryside from May 1993 until January 1994 and a stint as Opposition Front Bench Spokesman for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Mr Yeo said that he had been “struck very forcibly by how little things have moved on”, when he was appointed to his current post.
He said that there was little evidence of fresh thinking or analysis of how money is being spent, arguing that clients of Defra were becoming increasingly dissatisfied and frustrated with the department.
Specific recommendations of the review are outsourcing the cash handling service of the Rural Payments Agency, slimming down the Environment Agency, eliminating overlap between bodies and launching a review of all Defra quangos.
Oliver Letwin, the Shadow Chancellor, said: “Labour’s Government has become fat on 66 tax rises. Thanks to Gordon Brown, the Government’s paunch will get bigger still. It is time to put fat Government on a diet.
“The Conservative diet will make our public services healthier, more efficient and have a smaller appetite for people’s hard earned money.”
