Cabinet this morning can’t have been a cheery occasion. The Prime Minister did congratulate all those who had been involved in the Leveson talks, with a little bit more congratulation from the Deputy Prime Minister and Maria Miller. But that was where the backslapping stopped. the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced that OBR forecasts tomorrow will show that departments are underspending more of their budgets than the historical average. As a result, departments will now be required to reduce their spending by a further 1 per cent in 2013/14 and 2014/15, which amounts to a further £2.5 billion to fund capital investment projects in tomorrow’s Budget.
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David Butterfield
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The £1.2 billion that has already been saved will be used as a ‘downpayment’ for the 2015/16 spending review, which means departments will now be looking for savings of around £8.8
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