Conservative to unveil cost cutting measures
The Conservatives plan to axe the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in a bid to save £2.3 billion a year.
Under a Conservative administration, John Prescott’s department would be replaced by a Department for Local Government.
Michael Howard’s party also has plans to curtail the role of regional development agencies and prevent them buying more land.
Public sector spending would be axed by £4.43 billion a year through setting stricter parameters on local authority procurement and town hall spending, with £700 million saved with the sale of surplus government land.
This week, David James, the Tories’ waste-buster, will deliver a report detailing £30-40 billion of potential savings across government.
Under the plans, the equality and diversity and the social exclusions units could also face the chop.
But, opponents claim that the scale of cutbacks proposed by the Conservatives would seriously endanger the performance of government departments.
Mr Prescott’s Sustainable Communities Plan could be replaced by regeneration initiatives, with savings of £1.015 billion.
Mr James told The Times cost savings would enable a “massive” cut in either public spending or tax cuts.
Mr James on Tuesday is expected to publish his report on the Department for International Development (Dfid), which he claims spends nearly £1 billion a year on management consultants.
He will then publish efficiency plans for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Tuesday and the Home Office at the end of the week.
The Government’s own cost cutter, Sir Peter Gershon, the former head of the Office of Government Commerce, has identified £21.5 billion of potential savings.
