This is the next of our posts with REFORM looking ahead to the Spending Review. Earlier posts were on health, education, the first hundred days, welfare, the Civil Service and international experiences (New Zealand, Canada, Ireland).
Ruth Richardson, the former reforming Finance Minister of New Zealand, set the benchmark for the Spending Review in a lecture for Reform on Wednesday evening. The coalition Government has framed
the Review in the right way – as a chance to reshape and redefine the role of government rather than just shave a few percentage points off the existing structure with all its structural
flaws. Ruth Richardson explained what that should mean, addressing each of government’s roles as spender, tax collector, asset owner and law maker. Her full lecture is here and a summary here.
The debate after her lecture (between Ruth, David Smith of The Sunday Times, Julian Glover of The Guardian and Steve Richards of The Independent) focused on the politics,
and prefigured the political debate of this Parliament.
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