Yorkshire Forward to escape £6bn of spending cuts

THE Government is set to reveal £6bn of public sector spending cuts today but the North of England’s regional development agencies, including Yorkshire Forward are likely to escape the cull.

Fears that the new coalition Government would sweep away the work of the RDAs in helping generate jobs and growing the economy have been calmed by recent comments from Prime Minister David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable that those in the North have a key role to play in driving growth.

Their counterparts in the South of England are likely to be targetted as part of a major cull of quangos in cuts which are the first step towards reducing Britain’s record budget deficit.

Yorkshire Forward, which has an annual budget of £270m, the North West Development Agency and One North East are likely to continue the bulk of their work however they will no remain completely unscathed from the spending cuts with some reduction in their budgets almost certain.

Conservative Chancellor George Osborne and his Lib Dem deputy David Laws will outline cuts across all departments today.

Budgets for IT, property, advertising and recruitment are expected to be cut, while some quangos could be abolished.

Ministers admit the cuts will be “painful” and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said its decisions will be “unpopular and controversial”.

But the government must “hold its nerve” and tough decisions will help maintain spending in key areas.

Some of the £6bn will be reinvested into schemes for employment and economic growth as the UK emerges from recession.

The move comes ahead of the government’s emergency Budget on June 22 and its autumn review of long-term departmental spending when the full scale of future austerity measures will become clearer.

Today’s focus will be on “non-priority” areas, with ministers insisting they are clamping down on waste and that services on which the most vulnerable in society rely will be untouched.

The chancellor is expected to announce a saving of £163m by restraining recruitment, including a recruitment freeze across the civil service.

Savings from discretionary spending, which includes consultancy, travel, office furnishing and advertising, are expected to reach more than £1bn, while £10m will be saved from cracking down on first class travel for civil servants.

Budgets of so-called quangos are set to fall by more than £500m, with bodies such as the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency – which oversees the national curriculum – and the Young Persons Learning Agency facing big cutbacks or even closure.

The budget of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is set to fall by £700m, with “significant cuts” to regional development agencies in the south of England and further savings on the universities budget.

Spending across Whitehall on travel, equipment and consultancy services is likely to be slashed, IT projects put on hold, procurement contracts re-negotiated and government buildings rationalised.