A further £25bn spending cuts will be needed after the next election, including £12bn from the welfare budget, the Chancellor George Osborne has warned, reports the BBC
Olly from PSI: these cutbacks will inevitably place pressure on further public service reform as all Departments, even those with their budgets protected, will have to achieve “more with less”.
Interestingly, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said the £25bn target for spending targets looks “tough” to achieve, particularly if a future government continues to ringfence spending on the health service and schools in England, as well as pensions.
The political consequences of not ring fencing these budgets will likely be a far too great a risk as we head towards an election year. Expect welfare benefits and services for 18-25s to the worst hit, primarily because the political fallout of doing so will be far less than reducing health and education spending or pensions.
