The consensus among the main political parties is that cuts in government spending cannot be avoided. As a result, in October saw a number of new announcements on where cuts can be made.

The Chancellor announced that public spending priorities and cuts will be revealed in this autumn’s pre-budget report. This comes after it was reported that he has started one-to-one meetings with cabinet members to look at possible spending cuts.

Apart from Children’s Secretary Ed Balls’ announcement that education spending could be cut by £2 billion, no other details of departmental spending cuts have been disclosed. The Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, which sets departmental budgets for the following four years, is not now expected before the general election. However, last week, Gordon Brown announced £16 billion of public sector asset sales, of which £13 billion are expected from local government.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne used his autumn party conference speech as an opportunity to set out the Conservative Party’s plans to save more than £7 billion per year in government spending by the end of the next Parliament. Proposals include:

• freezing pay for all public sector workers in 2011, except frontline military personnel or staff on less than £18,000 per year
• reducing the cost of central government and quangos by at least a third
• abolishing tax credits for families earning more than £50,000 per year
• limiting spending on Child Trust Funds to disabled children and the poorest one third of families
• a £50,000 annual cap on the size of public sector pension payouts

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg launched a detailed plan for cutting the costs of government during his party’s annual conference. A better politics for less (PDF file, 11 pages, 117 KB) sets out how £1.82 billion could be cut through reductions in ministers, government departments, quangos, spin doctors and salaries.

Like Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable proposed that government bureaucracy should be cut, also adding that public sector pensions should be reformed; NHS efficiency should be improved; tax credits should be reined in; and that some central government databases and defence commitments should be shelved.

Cable did not reveal the cost savings that these reforms would make, but they echo his proposals in a recent publication written for the think tank Reform, Tackling the fiscal crisis: a recovery plan for the UK, which details nine areas where £14 billion can be saved. However, the Party says that these are ideas, not policy.

For further information, access the Improvement Network briefing: 'Local Government Asset Sales' (PDF file, 6 pages, 136 KB).