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Brown unveils £12bn spending cuts Brown unveiling £12bn 'savings'
(about 8 hours later)
Gordon Brown is to begin setting out Labour's plans for slashing public spending by £12bn over four years, ahead of Wednesday's pre-Budget report. Gordon Brown is unveiling Labour's plans for cutting public spending by £12bn over four years, ahead of Wednesday's pre-Budget report.
The PM will unveil the "efficiency savings" as he tries to show how Labour could halve the UK's budget deficit.The PM will unveil the "efficiency savings" as he tries to show how Labour could halve the UK's budget deficit.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he will "indicate" some cuts on Wednesday but not deliver a full spending review.Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he will "indicate" some cuts on Wednesday but not deliver a full spending review.
The Conservatives have accused the government of not being straight with voters on the scale of cuts needed.The Conservatives have accused the government of not being straight with voters on the scale of cuts needed.
In his speech on Wednesday, Mr Darling is expected to confirm annual borrowing will top £175bn. The government has delayed its planned comprehensive spending review until after a general election.
The chancellor told BBC One's Andrew Marr show on Sunday that public spending would be "a lot tighter than it was in the past" as a result.
Windfall taxWindfall tax
He said parts of the troubled £12bn NHS IT system would be delayed as it "isn't essential to the front line" - a move thought likely to save hundreds of millions of pounds, although the exact details will be spelled out later this week. In his speech in central London, Mr Brown will say ministers have identified £3bn in additional efficiency savings since the Budget in April.
Of that, £1.3bn will be achieved by streamlining central government, he will say, indicating that certain programmes will have to be delayed or abandoned.
We need to do what households up and down the country do to prioritise the necessities and postpone the things we can do without Prime Minister Gordon Brown Banks 'face windfall bonuses tax' NHS IT system to be scaled backWe need to do what households up and down the country do to prioritise the necessities and postpone the things we can do without Prime Minister Gordon Brown Banks 'face windfall bonuses tax' NHS IT system to be scaled back
Mr Darling said the full details of spending cuts would not be revealed until "the first half of next year at some point". "In order to protect the front-line services we value, at a time when budgets are tighter, it means we need to do what households up and down the country do to prioritise the necessities and postpone the things we can do without," the prime minister will say.
Meanwhile, as part of plans to plug the hole in public finances, the Treasury is also working on a possible windfall tax on what it sees as the exceptional profits of banks or the excessive bonuses of bankers.
The government has delayed its planned comprehensive spending review until after a general election.
In his speech on Monday, Mr Brown will say ministers have identified £3bn in additional efficiency savings since the Budget in April.
Of that, £1.3bn will be achieved by streamlining central government, Mr Brown will say, indicating also that certain programmes will have to be delayed or abandoned.
"In order to protect the front-line services we value, at a time when budgets are tighter it means we need to do what households up and down the country do to prioritise the necessities and postpone the things we can do without," the prime minister will say.
'Tough decisions'
The government will be "relentless" in finding new ways to save money and will take the "tough decisions" needed to realise them, he will add.The government will be "relentless" in finding new ways to save money and will take the "tough decisions" needed to realise them, he will add.
"The proposals we are setting out in this plan - which is just one element of our efforts to reduce the deficit - will go further than we have ever gone before in streamlining central government," Mr Brown will say."The proposals we are setting out in this plan - which is just one element of our efforts to reduce the deficit - will go further than we have ever gone before in streamlining central government," Mr Brown will say.
"We have already promised savings of £35bn a year by 2011 on top of the £26.5bn a year already delivered through the Gershon review. "We have already promised savings of £35bn a year by 2011 on top of the £26.5bn a year already delivered through the Gershon [spending] review.
"But by identifying new ways of working - and being prepared to make the tough choices - we can deliver in excess of another £12bn in efficiency savings over the next four years."But by identifying new ways of working - and being prepared to make the tough choices - we can deliver in excess of another £12bn in efficiency savings over the next four years.
"This includes £3bn of new efficiency savings identified since the Budget - of which over £1.3bn will come from streamlining central government.""This includes £3bn of new efficiency savings identified since the Budget - of which over £1.3bn will come from streamlining central government."
The prime minister will say technological advances can enable services to be both responsive and more cost-effective.The prime minister will say technological advances can enable services to be both responsive and more cost-effective.
'A lot tighter'
He will say: "We live in an age of expanding opportunity in which rapid technological advances are changing our world at a speed and scale not witnessed since the industrial revolution.
"And this offers us a once-in-a-generation moment to give the public what they now demand: public services responsive to their needs and driven by them.
"At the same time it provides us with the means to deliver these public services in a way that maintains their quality but brings down their cost."
As an example, Mr Brown will say: "Using text messages to remind people of GP appointments can help save on the £600m annual cost to the NHS of missed appointments - that is the equivalent of 24 new secondary schools, or over 13,000 nurses."
In his pre-Budget report speech on Wednesday, Mr Darling is expected to confirm annual borrowing will top £175bn.
The chancellor told BBC One's Andrew Marr show on Sunday that public spending would be "a lot tighter than it was in the past" as a result.
He said parts of the troubled £12bn NHS IT system would be delayed as it "isn't essential to the front line" - a move thought likely to save hundreds of millions of pounds, although the exact details will be spelled out later this week.
Mr Darling said the full details of spending cuts would not be revealed until "the first half of next year at some point".
Meanwhile, as part of plans to tackle the deficit in public finances, the Treasury is also working on a possible windfall tax on what it sees as the exceptional profits of banks or the excessive bonuses of bankers.
But the Conservatives say the government is still not revealing the full extent of cuts needed to tackle Britain's debts.But the Conservatives say the government is still not revealing the full extent of cuts needed to tackle Britain's debts.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said he would protect NHS and international development spending but the rest of Whitehall would face "very difficult choices" if the Conservatives won power. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said he would protect NHS and international development spending but the rest of Whitehall would face "very difficult choices" if the Tories won power.
They have also called for a moratorium on all government computer projects, claiming Labour has spent £100bn on IT since 1997 and contracts worth another £70bn are due to be renewed or commissioned in the next two years. The party has also called for a moratorium on all government computer projects, claiming Labour has spent £100bn on IT since 1997 and that contracts worth another £70bn are due to be renewed or commissioned in the next two years.