UK needs reckoning with Government spending Treasury minister will say

The UK is “long overdue a reckoning with Government spending”, a senior Treasury minister will say as Labour faces the prospect of making further cuts.

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is expected to use a speech at the Institute for Government’s annual conference on Tuesday to argue that ministers need a different approach to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent effectively.

He will say the Government “will not settle for doing things the same and hoping for different results” as he leads the spending review that will determine how much money departments will get over the coming years.

It follows criticism of the previous government, with Labour accusing the Conservatives of wasting taxpayers’ money and leaving a £22 billion “black hole” in last year’s budget – something the opposition denies.

As Chief Secretary, Mr Jones is responsible for assessing ministers’ requests for cash and has announced he will adopt a “zero-based” approach that requires every pound the Government spends to be fully justified.

This could become a tough process. Ministers have already been told to find efficiency savings worth 5% of their departments’ budgets, but the rising cost of borrowing could mean even steeper cuts are required if the Government is to meet the fiscal rules it has set itself.

The alternatives – greater borrowing or more tax increases – have been effectively ruled out by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Mr Jones is expected to defend this approach on Tuesday, saying: “We are long overdue a reckoning with Government spending, and a realistic appraisal of how we are using taxpayers’ money.”

A tech enthusiast, Mr Jones is expected to say he will put data at the heart of decisions in the spending review, saying it will help “properly link choices about what outcome we are buying with every pound”.

It comes a week after Sir Keir Starmer wrote to ministers instructing them to make adopting AI a priority for their departments.

Mr Jones will also confirm the creation of a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority to “drive more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country” in a bid to increase growth.

Published: 21/01/2025 by Radio NewsHub