The European Commission proposed a revised Directive on public procurement, designed to modernize public tendering in the European Union. It said that public procurement policy needed to ensure the optimal use of funds in order foster growth and job creation and thereby help to achieve the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.
Source: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Public Procurement, European Commission
Links: Proposal | European Commission press release | NHS Confederation press release
Date: 2011-Dec
The Welsh Government Budget for 2012-13 was approved by the Welsh Assembly. Total planned spending was £14.7 billion.
Source: Final Budget 2012-2013: A Budget for growth and jobs, Welsh Government
Links: Budget report | Welsh Government press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Dec
The coalition government published its 2011 Autumn Statement on the economy and public finances. Economic growth would be significantly lower than previous expectations in 2012 and 2013. Unemployment was forecast to increase to 8.7 per cent in 2012, compared with 8.1 per cent in 2011. Public sector borrowing would be around £20-30 billion higher in every year between 2012-13 and 2015-16 compared with the 2011 Budget forecast. A planned £110 above-inflation increase to the child element of the child tax credit would be scrapped, and the couple and lone parent elements of the working tax credit would not be uprated in 2012-13 – leading to an increase of 100,000 children in poverty by 2012-13. The state pension age would be raised to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028 (rather than by 2036). Additional funding would allow free childcare places to be extended to 120,000 additional disadvantaged children aged 2. An extra £600 million would be provided to create a further 100 'free' schools, and £600 million would be given to areas with the greatest pressure on school places.
Source: Autumn Statement 2011, Cm 8231, HM Treasury, TSO
Links: Report | Hansard | HMT press release | DBIS/HMT press release | HOC research brief | Conservative Party press release | Green Party press release | Labour Party press release | Barnardos press release | CBI press release | Citizens Advice press release | CPAG press release | CSJ press release | ECP press release | EDCM press release | Fawcett Society press release | Institute for Government press release | IPPR briefing | NAPF press release | Scope press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Guardian report (4) | Guardian report (5) | Professional Pensions report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report examined progress by the coalition government in implementing its public spending plans. Accelerating job losses in the public sector were beginning to outstrip employment gains in the private sector.
Source: Spending Review: One Year On – An analysis of progress and challenges, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Links: Report | PWC press release | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Efficiency and Reform Group had made a 'good start' in its efforts to cut public spending: but it had a huge task ahead in making an impact beyond central government in areas where it had no direct control, and it needed to be clearer on its longer-term aims.
Source: The Efficiency and Reform Group's Role in Improving Public Sector Value for Money, Forty-ninth Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1352, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Public Finance report
Notes: The Efficiency and Reform Group was established within the Cabinet Office in May 2010, initially to lead efforts to cut government spending by £6 billion in 2010-11.
Date: 2011-Oct
The Welsh Government published draft spending plans for the three years 2011-12 to 2014-15. The overall budget was planned to fall by 12 per cent in real terms, with health and education spending protected relative to other areas.
Source: Draft Budget Proposals 2012-13, Welsh Government
Links: Report | Welsh Government press release | Plaid Cymru press release | WLGA press release | CIH press release | BBC report
Date: 2011-Oct
The Scottish Government published its 2011 spending review and draft Budget for 2012-13. Measures included switching over £750 million from resource spending to capital projects in order to support job creation, and Introducing a new public health levy on large retailers to tackle the cost problems associated with alcohol and tobacco.
Source: Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13, Scottish Government
Links: Report | Equality statement | Speech | Scottish Government press release (1) | Scottish Government press release (2) | COSLA press release | CPPR brief (1) | CPPR brief (2) | NUS press release | SFHA press release | UCU press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Sep
A think-tank report said that a future Labour government should adopt an 'effective spending guarantee', under which new spending initiatives would be independently reviewed to confirm that they had delivered the results expected.
Source: Stephen Beer, The Credibility Deficit: How to rebuild Labour s economic reputation, Fabian Society
Date: 2011-Sep
An audit report in Scotland said that public bodies might be unable to make the savings required of them through efficiency improvements and without cuts to services.
Source: Scotland s Public Finances: Addressing the challenges, Audit Scotland
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | BBC report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Aug
A briefing paper examined long-term trends in the composition of public spending. Over the previous 30 years or so the role of the state had changed to accommodate increased spending on health, pensions, and other areas of social protection: the share of spending on defence, housing, and support for business had fallen.
Source: Rowena Crawford and Paul Johnson, The Changing Composition of Public Spending, Briefing Note 119, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note | IFS press release
Date: 2011-Aug
A report by an official advisory body (the first of its kind) said that the public finances were likely to come under pressure over the longer term, primarily as a result of an ageing population. In the absence of offsetting tax increases or spending cuts, this would eventually put public sector net debt on an 'unsustainable upward trajectory'.
Source: Fiscal Sustainability Report, Office for Budget Responsibility
Links: Report | NAPF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Jul
A think-tank report said that the coalition government was proposing only 'modest reductions' in government spending, and called for additional cuts of £242 billion per annum. Government spending had little or no beneficial effect on economic growth. The existing benefits system discriminated strongly against work, family formation, and saving: it should be completely reformed to provide income supplements through a negative income tax, and working-age claimants should be required to 'undertake work' as a condition of receiving benefits. The National Health Service should be replaced by health savings accounts with insurance for catastrophic risks.
Source: Philip Booth (ed.), Sharper Axes, Lower Taxes: Big steps to a smaller state, Institute of Economic Affairs
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Jul
The government published (for the first time) 'whole of government accounts' for the year 2009-10, covering the balance sheet position of over 1,500 public bodies. Public service pension liabilities totalled £1.1 trillion, and capital liabilities under the private finance initiative totalled over £35 billion.
Source: Whole of Government Accounts: Unaudited summary report for the year ended 31 March 2010, Cm 8127, HM Treasury, TSO
Links: Report | HMT press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Jul
A think-tank report said that the United Kingdom faced a 'bleak future' of rising taxes and rising public deficits. Two forces would defeat the coalition government's attempts to reduce the deficit: the ageing population, and its own policies to increase spending on the basic state pension and the National Health Service. The government needed to 'hold firm' on reform to public sector pensions, and should resist ideas to spend more on long-term social care.
Source: Thomas Cawston, Andrew Haldenby, Patrick Nolan, Lucy Parsons, and Kimberley Trewhitt, Old and Broke: The long term outlook for the UK s public finances, Reform
Links: Report | Reform press release
Date: 2011-Jun
A paper examined national austerity packages in Europe in the wake of the global financial crisis. It was doubtful whether European Union countries were willing and/or able to combine fiscal austerity with the measures required to achieve the longer-term goals of 'smart, sustainable and inclusive growth' set out in the Europe 2020 strategy. Although some form of social dialogue took place in most countries prior to announcement of the austerity packages, in the final outcome the views of trade unions were largely ignored: in several member states there was no social dialogue at all.
Source: Sotiria Theodoropoulou and Andrew Watt, Withdrawal Symptoms: An assessment of the austerity packages in Europe, Working Paper 2011-02, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jun
A report examined the impact of a range of public spending cuts on women in a midlands city (Coventry). It said that spending cuts would increase inequality between women and men, and might seriously damage the human rights of some women (such as women victims and survivors of rape or domestic violence).
Source: Mary-Ann Stephenson and James Harrison, Unravelling Equality? A human rights and equality impact assessment of the public spending cuts on women in Coventry, Centre for Human Rights in Practice (University of Warwick)/Coventry Women s Voices
Links: Report | Summary | Warwick University press release
Date: 2011-May
A think-tank paper said that public sector pay was higher, and continued to grow more quickly, than private sector pay during 2010. Significant 'reforms' would need to be made to public sector pay arrangements in order to limit job losses in the public sector and to achieve equity and fairness in the labour market. A leading consultancy firm described the report as 'misleading in several ways'.
Source: Ed Holmes and Matt Oakley, Public and Private Sector Terms, Conditions and the Issue of Fairness, Policy Exchange
Links: Paper | Hay Group press release | TUC press release | Morning Star report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2011-May
A report by a committee of peers said that the European Union's budget should not grow any further in real terms, and that the EU needed to spend its money more carefully. Regional development funds should go to where they were most needed – to the poorest countries.
Source: EU Financial Framework from 2014, 13th Report (Session 2010-11), HL 125, House of Lords European Union Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Apr
A paper examined the relative value of public and private sector remuneration, using a comprehensive measure of 'total reward' (TR) that included pay, pensions, and other benefits in kind. TR was equalized over the lifecycle for men, whereas women had a clear TR advantage in the public sector by the end of their career.
Source: Alexander Danzer and Peter Dolton, Total Reward in the UK in the Public and Private Sectors, Discussion Paper 5656, Institute for the Study of Labor
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Apr
An audit report said that there was 'a lack of a structured approach' to delivering the staff cost reduction required across government in the forthcoming spending review period.
Source: Managing Staff Costs in Central Government, HC 818 (Session 2010-11), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined the way in which welfare spending cuts in European countries were distributed between social groups. There was a need to better understand the role of key advisers in order to explain welfare state policy: recommendations made by politically appointed advisers differed systematically from those made by advisers who were not appointed politically.
Source: Carl Dahlstrom, 'Who takes the hit? Ministerial advisers and the distribution of welfare state cuts', Journal of European Public Policy, Volume 18 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Mar
A report examined the impacts of the coalition government's Spending Review across key areas of the welfare state. It considered the implications for the fundamental principles underpinning the welfare state – fairness, social justice, and the reduction of inequalities. It proposed alternative measures for addressing the fiscal deficit, and called for policy debates to recognize social as much as economic goals.
Source: Nicola Yeates, Tina Haux, Rana Jawad, and Majella Kilkey (eds.), In Defence of Welfare: The impacts of the Spending Review, Social Policy Association
Links: Report | Kent University press release
Date: 2011-Feb
A report reviewed evidence on the impact of reduced public spending on equalities groups. It focused on job losses in the public sector; access to the types of public services that were funded by the Scottish Government; and welfare and tax issues that were reserved to the United Kingdom government (and hence were less likely to be of interest to the Scottish Government). The report concluded that equalities groups would be especially vulnerable to public spending cuts, as they were well represented in the public sector workforce and were also significant users of public services.
Source: Ronald McQuaid, Valerie Egdell, and Emma Hollywood, The Impact of Reduced Public Services Spending on Vulnerable Groups: Review of UK and international evidence, Employment Research Institute (Edinburgh Napier University)
Date: 2011-Feb
A research paper examined the Welsh Government's final Budget for 2011-12. It provided an overview of spending plans for 2011-12; how these compared with 2010-11; cumulative changes over the budget period (to 2013-14); and how the final Budget compared with the draft Budget.
Source: Eleanor Roy, Final Budget 2011-12, Research Paper 11/010, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Feb
The Scottish Government Budget for 2011-12 was approved by the Scottish Parliament. It included an agreement with local authorities to deliver a further council tax freeze, and to maintain police numbers and key education and social care commitments. Spending on health services would be protected, and remaining prescription charges would be abolished. Existing eligibility criteria for free personal care and concessionary travel would be maintained.
Source: Budget (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, TSO
Links: Bill | Supporting document | Official Report | Scottish Government press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Feb
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the 2010 Spending Review. The decision to withdraw child benefit from higher-rate taxpayers was 'tough but fair'.
Source: Spending Review 2010: Government Response to the Sixth Report from the Committee, Third Special Report (Session 2010-11), HC 754, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: The MPs report (November 2010) had warned that proposed changes to child benefit from 2013 might have perverse economic incentives, along with issues of perceived unfairness and enforceability.
Date: 2011-Feb
A think-tank report said that the system of spending public money needed a 'fundamental shake-up' in order to eliminate waste and improve its social impact. For decades, spending programmes overseen by successive governments had lacked clear objectives and had been poorly managed and monitored. The report called for the creation of a new body – the 'Office of Spending Effectiveness' – that would work with organizations such as the Office for National Statistics and the National Audit Office to check spending plans from government departments for their likely effectiveness before they were approved.
Source: Deven Ghelani, Kumaran Adithyan, and Gabriel Doctor, Outcome-Based Government: How to improve spending decisions across government, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Summary | CSJ press release
Date: 2011-Jan
A report presented detailed findings from a convention of 100 young people (aged 16-18) held to discuss the government's public spending plans. Young people were neither particularly pessimistic about their future nor explicitly resentful of older generations. Although there was a pervasive, broadly held sense that politicians privileged the concerns of older generations, there was also evidence that young people put the needs of older people above their own.
Source: Daniel Leighton, Back to the Future, Demos
Date: 2011-Jan
The European Commission began consultation on public procurement procedures, with the aim of increasing their contribution to a 'competitive social market economy'.
Source: Green Paper on the Modernisation of EU Public Procurement Policy: Towards a More Efficient European Procurement Market, European Commission
Links: Consultation document | Summary | European Commission press release
Date: 2011-Jan
The Scottish Government published the Budget (Scotland) Bill, setting out its fiscal plans for 2011-12. It included an agreement with local authorities to deliver a further council tax freeze, and to maintain police numbers and key education and social care commitments. Spending on health services would be protected, and remaining prescription charges would be abolished. Existing eligibility criteria for free personal care and concessionary travel would be maintained.
Source: Budget (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, TSO
Links: Bill | Supporting document | Scottish Government press release
Date: 2011-Jan
An audit report said that the Scottish Government had improved its oversight of major capital projects such as hospitals, schools, prisons, and roads in the face of increasing budget pressures and uncertainties.
Source: Management of the Scottish Government's Capital Investment Programme, Audit Scotland
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release
Date: 2011-Jan