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| Osborne's spending review – winners and losers at a glance | Osborne's spending review – winners and losers at a glance |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Guardian specialists examine the key areas covered by George Osborne's spending review today and identify the winners and losers across the government. | |
| Please note this article will continue to be updated throughout the day. Refresh the page for the latest additions. | Please note this article will continue to be updated throughout the day. Refresh the page for the latest additions. |
| WINNERS | WINNERS |
| Intelligence agencies and armed forces | Intelligence agencies and armed forces |
| The security and intelligence agencies - MI5, MI6, and GCHQ - will benefit from a 3.4% increase in their combined annual budget of nearly £2bn under the government’s spending plans, in a move likely to mark the start of a significant long-term trend. | The security and intelligence agencies - MI5, MI6, and GCHQ - will benefit from a 3.4% increase in their combined annual budget of nearly £2bn under the government’s spending plans, in a move likely to mark the start of a significant long-term trend. |
| The overall defence budget will continue to fall but the chancellor announced a sweetener - fines on banks for fixing Libor inter-bank lending rates will fund the military covenant. How this will in practice benefit members of the armed forces, their families, and veterans, was not immediately clear. | The overall defence budget will continue to fall but the chancellor announced a sweetener - fines on banks for fixing Libor inter-bank lending rates will fund the military covenant. How this will in practice benefit members of the armed forces, their families, and veterans, was not immediately clear. |
| There will be no further cuts in the numbers of armed forces personnel - 4,480 soldiers have been handed redundancy notices as the force aims to reduce personnel numbers to 82,000 by 2018 from more than 100,000 three years ago. | There will be no further cuts in the numbers of armed forces personnel - 4,480 soldiers have been handed redundancy notices as the force aims to reduce personnel numbers to 82,000 by 2018 from more than 100,000 three years ago. |
| However, the number of civilians working for the Ministry of Defence will be cut further. The government has already announced cuts in defence civilian staff from 75,000 to 40,000 over nine years. | However, the number of civilians working for the Ministry of Defence will be cut further. The government has already announced cuts in defence civilian staff from 75,000 to 40,000 over nine years. |
| The defence resource budget will be maintained in cash terms at £24bn, a cut in real terms, though, as already announced, the defence equipment budget, now totalling £14bn will grow by 1% in real terms in the year 2015/16. | The defence resource budget will be maintained in cash terms at £24bn, a cut in real terms, though, as already announced, the defence equipment budget, now totalling £14bn will grow by 1% in real terms in the year 2015/16. |
| Both the armed forces and the intelligence agencies will be spending more money on cyber-warfare. MoD contracts with private contractors will be further scrutinised for savings. | Both the armed forces and the intelligence agencies will be spending more money on cyber-warfare. MoD contracts with private contractors will be further scrutinised for savings. |
| Rises in the MI5, MI6, and GCHQ budgets reverse this year’s budgetary cuts and was widely expected after the heads of the agencies lobbied for them even before the Woolwich attack on a soldier last month. | Rises in the MI5, MI6, and GCHQ budgets reverse this year’s budgetary cuts and was widely expected after the heads of the agencies lobbied for them even before the Woolwich attack on a soldier last month. |
| The security and intelligence budgets are likely to rise for the foreseeable future as the amount of money spent on the armed forces falls. This is likely to be a long term trend. Richard Norton-Taylor | The security and intelligence budgets are likely to rise for the foreseeable future as the amount of money spent on the armed forces falls. This is likely to be a long term trend. Richard Norton-Taylor |
| Arts | Arts |
| “It is a relief,” said Mark Skipper, chief executive of Leeds-based Northern Ballet, as George Osborne announced a 5% cut for arts organisations. “Especially given that we were looking at modellings of 15% and the devastation that would cause. I think 5% is a good outcome.” | “It is a relief,” said Mark Skipper, chief executive of Leeds-based Northern Ballet, as George Osborne announced a 5% cut for arts organisations. “Especially given that we were looking at modellings of 15% and the devastation that would cause. I think 5% is a good outcome.” |
| That response will be echoed across the arts and museum sector. The DCMS has agreed a budget reduction of 7%, from which cuts to Arts Council England and national museums will be limited to 5%. The Treasury, it seems, listened to arguments that any more would spell disaster for a sector that is buoyant artistically but also a significant cash generator for the UK. | That response will be echoed across the arts and museum sector. The DCMS has agreed a budget reduction of 7%, from which cuts to Arts Council England and national museums will be limited to 5%. The Treasury, it seems, listened to arguments that any more would spell disaster for a sector that is buoyant artistically but also a significant cash generator for the UK. |
| Osborne said that national museums would have greater freedoms to use their budgets as they saw fit. | Osborne said that national museums would have greater freedoms to use their budgets as they saw fit. |
| But the DCMS cut is not the whole story. Also worrying are the 10% cuts to local government on which many arts groups rely on for funding. | But the DCMS cut is not the whole story. Also worrying are the 10% cuts to local government on which many arts groups rely on for funding. |
| Some had feared a repeat of 2010 when the Arts Council was given a 30% cut (including an order to cut its administration costs by half) from which arts organisations were cut 15%. That led to an enormous shake up, agonising for some – 206 organisations lost their regular funding – but good for others with 110 brought in to the portfolio for the first time. | Some had feared a repeat of 2010 when the Arts Council was given a 30% cut (including an order to cut its administration costs by half) from which arts organisations were cut 15%. That led to an enormous shake up, agonising for some – 206 organisations lost their regular funding – but good for others with 110 brought in to the portfolio for the first time. |
| What happens now? If you're the National Gallery, say, then it is straightforward: you make provision for a 5% cut. | What happens now? If you're the National Gallery, say, then it is straightforward: you make provision for a 5% cut. |
| If you're funded by ACE and/or local authorities then you make your application for funding and you wait. Arts organisations will have to submit applications and decisions will be made strategically – some may get cut, some may get an increase. Mark Brown | If you're funded by ACE and/or local authorities then you make your application for funding and you wait. Arts organisations will have to submit applications and decisions will be made strategically – some may get cut, some may get an increase. Mark Brown |
| Sport | Sport |
| Almost one year on from a hugely successful Olympic Games, the extent of the promised legacy for sport on which it was secured is under the microscope. Recent figures from Sport England show that fewer people are playing sport regularly than they were before the Olympics and the 5% cut for community sport, part of an overall 7% cut to the DCMS announced today threatens to damage the government in perception terms. | Almost one year on from a hugely successful Olympic Games, the extent of the promised legacy for sport on which it was secured is under the microscope. Recent figures from Sport England show that fewer people are playing sport regularly than they were before the Olympics and the 5% cut for community sport, part of an overall 7% cut to the DCMS announced today threatens to damage the government in perception terms. |
| But, in practice, the cut to the exchequer-funded portion of Sport England's grassroots sport budget – which applies only to resource funding and not capital projects - will amount only to a few million pounds. | But, in practice, the cut to the exchequer-funded portion of Sport England's grassroots sport budget – which applies only to resource funding and not capital projects - will amount only to a few million pounds. |
| The majority of its £300m annual budget now comes from the lottery following changes to the way that money is distributed. The sports minister, Hugh Robertson, is believed to be satisfied with the result of the spending negotiations after making the argument that deeper cuts would undermine the Olympic legacy case. | The majority of its £300m annual budget now comes from the lottery following changes to the way that money is distributed. The sports minister, Hugh Robertson, is believed to be satisfied with the result of the spending negotiations after making the argument that deeper cuts would undermine the Olympic legacy case. |
| The budget for elite Olympic and Paralympic sport, which will see £355m invested by UK Sport over the four years to 2016, was ringfenced as part of a deal unveiled during the Olympics when the medals were raining in. | The budget for elite Olympic and Paralympic sport, which will see £355m invested by UK Sport over the four years to 2016, was ringfenced as part of a deal unveiled during the Olympics when the medals were raining in. |
| The more profound questions for the Olympic legacy, aside from whether Sport England can effect a genuine shift in the nation's sport habits with its comparatively meagre budget, come as a result of the further cuts to local authority budgets that will inevitably lead to pressure on faciltiies and community sport programmes. Owen Gibson | The more profound questions for the Olympic legacy, aside from whether Sport England can effect a genuine shift in the nation's sport habits with its comparatively meagre budget, come as a result of the further cuts to local authority budgets that will inevitably lead to pressure on faciltiies and community sport programmes. Owen Gibson |
| Science | |
| Osborne declared the settlement for science a “huge investment” for the area and spoke of hopes to make Britain once again a country where the future is invented. | |
| In practice, that means continuing the freeze on the science research budget, which has been held at £4.6bn since the spending review in 2010. The flat cash settlement back then equates to a cut in real terms over the period, as inflation takes its toll. | |
| But the chancellor pledged a major increase in capital spending, up by 9% at the Department of Business. That will include a raise for science spending from £600m to £1.1bn a year until the 2021, a move that will help the long term planning and expansion of scientific projects. | |
| In 2010, the government pulled capital spending out of the science budget, and slashed it by half. The deficit has since been made up, with new money announced over 2011-12 for high performance computing, the UK space agency and an institute dedicated to the wonder material, graphene. | |
| During his speech, Osborne urged scientists in Britain to “keep inventing, keep delivering” and promised that the country would “back you all the way.” | |
| Projects the government has pledged to back include the synergistic air-breathing rocket engine (Sabre) and a new supercomputer for the Met Office. | |
| To the relief of many scientists, the Medical Research Council will not move the the Department of Health, a move that was being considered by Vince Cable to save costs. Ian Sample | |
| International development | |
| Aid will rise significantly in the next few years as the coalition government meets the longstanding UN aid target of 0.7% of gross national income. According to Treasury documents released with the spending review, total UK aid will rise to £11.7bn in 2014-15 and £12.2bn in the following year. | |
| Last year the UK spent £8.5bn on on official development assistance (ODA), roughly £137 per head. Osborne acknowledged opposition in Tory ranks to the government’s decision to protect the UK’s aid budget but said he refused to balance the books on the backs of the poor. | |
| The chancellor said he was proud to support a government that is the first to meet the 0.7% target. Osborne had announced in his March budget that the coalition would meet the target this year. Foreign aid - along with health and schools in England - has been “ringfenced”, which has not gone down well with many Tory backbenchers who think the aid budget should not escape the axe. | |
| Foreign aid, health and schools spending were also protected in the 2010 spending review. This means that the reductions in spending since 2010 have fallen more heavily on other departments. The same applies to cuts for 2015-16. Mark Tran | |
| Scotland | |
| Alex Salmond's government has emerged as one of the main beneficiaries of Osborne's spending review, as the Treasury moved to quell support for Scottish independence. | |
| The Scottish government will have the fourth largest budget of any Treasury funded area or department by 2015, with a total spend of £28.6bn, after the chancellor increased its capital spending by £400m to £3.3bn, and held its day-to-day spending at near level terms. | |
| Scotland's spending will be the next largest after the NHS and education funding in England and Wales, and defence spending, in a move designed to repel Salmond's attacks over his government's reduced spending power. | |
| The timing is significant as 4 million Scots prepare to vote in the independence referendum in September 2014; the independence movement plans to capitalise on discontent with Osborne's heavy cuts in government spending, particularly on welfare. | |
| Michael Moore, the Scottish secretary, whose small department will see a 10% budget cut by 2015, said the UK government was responding to Salmond's demands for extra spending by increasing his capital budgets by 12.9% in real terms. | |
| This was a “huge spending boost”, he said, before acknowledging that part of the £400m would come from a new borrowing limit of £293m for the Scottish government. The Scottish government's day-to-day revenue spending would fall by 1.9% in real terms by 2015. | |
| Moore said that was far lower than the 10% average cuts in Whitehall spending. Under the Treasury's funding formula for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, grants are closely tied to health and education spending in England and Wales, which Osborne has again protected. Severin Carrell | |
| LOSERS | LOSERS |
| Environment | Environment |
| Flood defences, protecting nature and fighting pollution appear to be the casualties after George Osborne inflicted the highest level of budget cuts – almost 10% - on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), alongside a few other unfortunates – just as he did in the 2010 spending review. | |
| Spending on flood defences “will remain at current levels in cash terms” in 2015-16, say Treasury documents. That's a real term cut to follow earlier cuts of more than 25% compared to 2010, at a time when the need protect against catastrophic flooding is rising due to climate change. Osborne did, however, promise to “set out plans for a major commitment to new flood defences for the rest of this decade” on Thursday. | |
| With Defra's budgets already heavily cut, environment secretary Owen Paterson attempted to fight off further reductions but failed. Because flood defence spending is being kept level and farming payments are fixed by the Europe Union, the new cuts will inevitably fall on those services protecting wildlife and nature and preventing water and air pollution. The Environment Agency and Natural England have already lost many thousands of staff. | |
| The Treasury said Defra “would be prioritising spending on economically high-value areas”, but did not specify any. Previously, Paterson has highlighted boosting the rural economy and food production by “getting out of people's hair”. Damian Carrington | |
| Public sector workers | Public sector workers |
| Millions of public sector workers will lose automatic annual pay increases as part of Osborne's £11.5bn cuts package. The chancellor said the current system was “deeply unfair” to public servants who did not receive the increase and the private sector. | Millions of public sector workers will lose automatic annual pay increases as part of Osborne's £11.5bn cuts package. The chancellor said the current system was “deeply unfair” to public servants who did not receive the increase and the private sector. |
| The announcement has provoked a furious response from unions. | The announcement has provoked a furious response from unions. |
| Osborne claimed that reforms such as ending “progression pay” in favour of performance-related increases would ease the pain. “Progression pay can at best be described as antiquated; at worst, it’s deeply unfair to other parts of the public sector who don’t get it and to the private sector who have to pay for it. So we will end automatic progression pay in the civil service by 2015-16,” he said. | Osborne claimed that reforms such as ending “progression pay” in favour of performance-related increases would ease the pain. “Progression pay can at best be described as antiquated; at worst, it’s deeply unfair to other parts of the public sector who don’t get it and to the private sector who have to pay for it. So we will end automatic progression pay in the civil service by 2015-16,” he said. |
| “And we are working to remove automatic pay rises simply for time served in our schools, NHS, prisons and police. The armed forces will be excluded from these reforms,” he added. | “And we are working to remove automatic pay rises simply for time served in our schools, NHS, prisons and police. The armed forces will be excluded from these reforms,” he added. |
| Osborne said public sector pay rises will be limited to an average of up to 1% for 2015-16. | Osborne said public sector pay rises will be limited to an average of up to 1% for 2015-16. |
| “Keeping pay awards down and ending automatic progression pay means that, for every pound we have to save in central administration, we can better limit job losses,” he said. | “Keeping pay awards down and ending automatic progression pay means that, for every pound we have to save in central administration, we can better limit job losses,” he said. |
| He also warned of further job cuts in the public sector, as he unveiled a 10% budget cut for the Department for Communities and Local Government. | He also warned of further job cuts in the public sector, as he unveiled a 10% budget cut for the Department for Communities and Local Government. |
| The Public and Commercial Services union said it was “deeply unfair” to stop pay progression in the civil service. | The Public and Commercial Services union said it was “deeply unfair” to stop pay progression in the civil service. |
| Ministers have already announced plans for a major overhaul of teachers’ pay. Rajeev Syal | Ministers have already announced plans for a major overhaul of teachers’ pay. Rajeev Syal |
| Wales | Wales |
| Ahead of the spending review the Welsh government called for more money to be ploughed into infrastructure schemes to get the country's economy moving. | Ahead of the spending review the Welsh government called for more money to be ploughed into infrastructure schemes to get the country's economy moving. |
| But the people of south Wales are still waiting to find out whether one of the key projects – much-needed improvements to the M4 – will get the go-ahead. Osborne called the plans for the motorway scheme around Newport “impressive” but would not say more until the government gives its response to an ongoing commission's conclusions that more powers to raise tax and borrow money should be given to Wales. | But the people of south Wales are still waiting to find out whether one of the key projects – much-needed improvements to the M4 – will get the go-ahead. Osborne called the plans for the motorway scheme around Newport “impressive” but would not say more until the government gives its response to an ongoing commission's conclusions that more powers to raise tax and borrow money should be given to Wales. |
| The M4 project is seen as crucial to prosperity in south Wales. There is a growing feeling that businesses are being put off investing in the region because of the frequent jams and accidents on the motorway. | The M4 project is seen as crucial to prosperity in south Wales. There is a growing feeling that businesses are being put off investing in the region because of the frequent jams and accidents on the motorway. |
| That response to the Silk Commission on devolution is due any week now but Osborne said the British government accepted that Cardiff's financial accountability and autonomy would be “enhanced” if it was partly self-financed. | That response to the Silk Commission on devolution is due any week now but Osborne said the British government accepted that Cardiff's financial accountability and autonomy would be “enhanced” if it was partly self-financed. |
| There will be no huge surprise that the Labour-led Welsh government's budget will be cut by 2% - the day to day revenue will be set at £13.6bn - nor that the Wales Office will reduce its running costs by 10%. | There will be no huge surprise that the Labour-led Welsh government's budget will be cut by 2% - the day to day revenue will be set at £13.6bn - nor that the Wales Office will reduce its running costs by 10%. |
| What may disturb the country more is Osborne's concession that many more job losses in the public sector are inevitable and his announcement that automatic pay increases for teachers, hospital workers and so on will end. | What may disturb the country more is Osborne's concession that many more job losses in the public sector are inevitable and his announcement that automatic pay increases for teachers, hospital workers and so on will end. |
| More than a quarter of those in employment in Wales – over 330,000 people – work in the public sector so any changes tend to hit Wales harder than other areas. | More than a quarter of those in employment in Wales – over 330,000 people – work in the public sector so any changes tend to hit Wales harder than other areas. |
| Good news for Welsh speakers, though – the British government confirmed it will not reduce its funding for Welsh-language television channel S4C. Steven Morris | Good news for Welsh speakers, though – the British government confirmed it will not reduce its funding for Welsh-language television channel S4C. Steven Morris |
| Ministry of Justice | |
| In percentage terms, the Ministry of Justice will suffer one of the highest levels of cuts. The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has agreed to reduce his department’s funding by a further 10%. | |
| The MoJ’s budget of £6.8bn in 2014-15 will fall to £6.2bn the following year. Only the local government department, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury have to endure similar levels of financial pain, with Defra coming close at 9.6%. | |
| Most of the savings appear to come from the courts. The news will dismay lawyers already fighting the latest round of legal aid cuts. That £220m saving in criminal legal aid is included in the chancellor’s figures. | |
| But a proposed saving of £200m in the costs of running the courts - through partial privatisation, efficiency savings or rises in legal fees - emerges for the first time. | |
| Reform of public sector prisons, also an MoJ responsibility, is, by contrast, expected to lead to a £180m saving. | |
| A Criminal Justice System action plan is due to be announced shortly detailing how the Ministry of Justice, Home Office, police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will work more closely together. Among reforms envisaged are the introduction of special traffic courts to deal with “high volume, low level motoring offences”. | |
| The police and the crown prosecution service will be asked to identify cases where a guilty plea is anticipated and deal with those cases early. Owen Bowcott | |
| Work and pensions | |
| Osborne moved to place a cap on the £157bn UK welfare budget by introducing controls on spending on housing benefit, disability allowances, tax credits and some pensioner benefits. | |
| But the cap, designed to limit expenditure on so-called annually managed expenditure, and dubbed “a limit on the nation’s credit card” by the chancellor, will not affect the state pension, which accounts for over half of social security spending. | |
| Campaigners are concerned that the move failed to address the underlying causes of rising welfare spending, such as low wages, lack of jobs and rising rents. They say the move represented a huge change in the way welfare is managed, by breaking the link between the provision of social security from the need for it. | |
| Osborne also signalled a range of measures to tighten up eligibility for social security benefits, including a seven-day wait before people can sign on after losing their job. Claimants who do not speak English will be required to agree to learn as a condition of receiving benefits, and if they refused their benefits will be cut. | |
| Lone parents with children aged as young as three will be forced to regularly attend jobcentres in order to claim benefits, while all jobseekers will be asked to sign on weekly instead of fortnightly. A new “upfront work search” scheme will be launched, under which jobseekers will have to turn up with a CV and “start looking for work". | |
| Although the chancellor made it clear he would protect pensioner benefits he announced an annual “temperature test” which will restrict winter fuel payments to pensioners who live abroad in warmer climates. | |
| The welfare cap will be set as a cash limit each year at the time of the budget statement, starting in April 2015. Osborne said: “In future, when a government looks set to breach the cap because it is failing to control welfare, the OBR will issue a public warning. The government will then be forced to take action to cut welfare costs or publicly breach the cap.” | |
| Disability charity Scope said it would mean more pressure on the incomes of disabled people, who were already facing £28bn of cuts across a range of benefits. | |
| Osborne said he had rejected calls to include the state pension in the overall cap because it would penalise people “who had worked hard all their lives". He added: “Cutting pensions to pay for working age benefits is a choice this government is certainly not prepared to make. Patrick Butler | |
| MIXED PICTURE | MIXED PICTURE |
| Transport | Transport |
| On transport, the chancellor has taken with one hand but given with the other. The Department for Transport’s day-to-day budget has been cut by 9%, but George Osborne said the capital budget for long-term schemes would rise to £9.5bn - an extra £600m in 2014-15. | On transport, the chancellor has taken with one hand but given with the other. The Department for Transport’s day-to-day budget has been cut by 9%, but George Osborne said the capital budget for long-term schemes would rise to £9.5bn - an extra £600m in 2014-15. |
| He indicated that Transport for London’s grant would take a major hit, and the government would also “bear down on the running costs” of rail administration. | He indicated that Transport for London’s grant would take a major hit, and the government would also “bear down on the running costs” of rail administration. |
| However, he also vowed to preserve mayor Boris Johnson’s annual capital budget of £1.8bn until 2020 - allowing London to continue to invest in tube upgrades and projects such as the Northern Line extension. | However, he also vowed to preserve mayor Boris Johnson’s annual capital budget of £1.8bn until 2020 - allowing London to continue to invest in tube upgrades and projects such as the Northern Line extension. |
| That means fares may well rise again and some bus services are likely to suffer - news that comes on a day that TfL announced £2.5m in bonuses to executives. | That means fares may well rise again and some bus services are likely to suffer - news that comes on a day that TfL announced £2.5m in bonuses to executives. |
| Network Rail’s long-term budget is effectively ringfenced for now and Osborne pledged to continue “record” investment, but will be looking for more savings. | Network Rail’s long-term budget is effectively ringfenced for now and Osborne pledged to continue “record” investment, but will be looking for more savings. |
| Cuts in the budget may also affect road maintenance, even as Osborne promised to build more new ones than for 50 years. | Cuts in the budget may also affect road maintenance, even as Osborne promised to build more new ones than for 50 years. |
| The chancellor referenced projects mainly already announced: road spending, Crossrail and HS2 - whose budget is likely to get cross-party approval in a paving bill this afternoon. But he also endorsed looking at Crossrail 2, a new north-south rail line in London. | The chancellor referenced projects mainly already announced: road spending, Crossrail and HS2 - whose budget is likely to get cross-party approval in a paving bill this afternoon. But he also endorsed looking at Crossrail 2, a new north-south rail line in London. |
| Transport will though be the beneficiary of much of the £100bn in infrastructure projects that Danny Alexander will detail tomorrow (£300bn in total pledged until the end of the decade). Transport projects may also pick up some crumbs in a Local Growth fund the chancellor announced - but of just £2bn, lower than expected. Gwyn Topham | Transport will though be the beneficiary of much of the £100bn in infrastructure projects that Danny Alexander will detail tomorrow (£300bn in total pledged until the end of the decade). Transport projects may also pick up some crumbs in a Local Growth fund the chancellor announced - but of just £2bn, lower than expected. Gwyn Topham |
| Foreign Office | Foreign Office |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office spending is to be be cut by 8% in 2015 but plans are proceeding to open more embassies in what the chancellor called the “emerging world” and focus British diplomacy on commercial opportunities in “growing markets” from Shanghai to Abuja. | Foreign and Commonwealth Office spending is to be be cut by 8% in 2015 but plans are proceeding to open more embassies in what the chancellor called the “emerging world” and focus British diplomacy on commercial opportunities in “growing markets” from Shanghai to Abuja. |
| The FCO is expected to make £70m worth of savings by “co-locating” UK missions with Commonwealth and EU countries and continuing an existing programme to reduce UK-based-staff by 10% by 2015. | The FCO is expected to make £70m worth of savings by “co-locating” UK missions with Commonwealth and EU countries and continuing an existing programme to reduce UK-based-staff by 10% by 2015. |
| Other savings are like to be found from programmes dealing with counter-terrorism, human rights and Arab partnerships. Another tried efficiency is the creation of regional “hubs” providing corporate services to a number of British missions in the same region. | Other savings are like to be found from programmes dealing with counter-terrorism, human rights and Arab partnerships. Another tried efficiency is the creation of regional “hubs” providing corporate services to a number of British missions in the same region. |
| One bright spot is the announcement of £70m to be shared with UKTI to support global economic growth. “The extra money...recognises the FCO’s strong track record in this field,” a spokesperson said. “By supporting countries in making political and economic reforms we in turn support the UK’s prosperity.” | One bright spot is the announcement of £70m to be shared with UKTI to support global economic growth. “The extra money...recognises the FCO’s strong track record in this field,” a spokesperson said. “By supporting countries in making political and economic reforms we in turn support the UK’s prosperity.” |
| William Hague was praised by Osborne as “the best foreign secretary in a generation” who had already demonstrated how to make pounds “go further.” | William Hague was praised by Osborne as “the best foreign secretary in a generation” who had already demonstrated how to make pounds “go further.” |
| It had been anticpated that the FCO might get off lighter than other departments due to claims around around conflict and peacekeeping. FCO spending is largely on salaries and buildings rather than programmes. Grand premises like the elegant British embassy in Paris give an impression of diplomats living lavishly at taxpayer’s expense — an image dismissed as a misleading carictaure by the FCO. Its budget was already tight after the last spending review in October 2010. It was cut then from £1.6bn in 2011-12 to £1.36bn in 2014/15. Ian Black and Neil Johnston | It had been anticpated that the FCO might get off lighter than other departments due to claims around around conflict and peacekeeping. FCO spending is largely on salaries and buildings rather than programmes. Grand premises like the elegant British embassy in Paris give an impression of diplomats living lavishly at taxpayer’s expense — an image dismissed as a misleading carictaure by the FCO. Its budget was already tight after the last spending review in October 2010. It was cut then from £1.6bn in 2011-12 to £1.36bn in 2014/15. Ian Black and Neil Johnston |
| Please note this article will continue to be updated throughout the day. Refresh the page for the latest additions. | Please note this article will continue to be updated throughout the day. Refresh the page for the latest additions. |