UK Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves has announced plans to reduce government operational costs by 15% over the next four years as she works to manage the country’s financial challenges.
Her statement comes ahead of the Spring Statement on Wednesday, where she is expected to outline billions of pounds in budget reductions across government departments.
“We are, by the end of this parliament, making a commitment that we will cut the costs of running government by 15 percent,” Reeves told the BBC.
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According to the broadcaster, this reduction could lead to annual savings of £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion) within the civil service, which currently employs more than 500,000 people. Reeves indicated that individual departments would decide how to implement these cuts, with an estimated 10,000 jobs potentially affected.
“I would rather have people working on the front line in our schools and our hospitals, in our police, rather than in back-office jobs,” she said in an interview with Sky News.
Reeves also reaffirmed her commitment to fiscal discipline, stating that she will adhere to her financial rules when delivering her update on Wednesday. These rules include not borrowing.
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