AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Brown polishes his Golden Rule.
(From Financial Director)
Byline: Dennis Turner.
A general election must be in the offing. Both major political parties are trying to outbid each other with the savings they claim can be made from civil service job cuts and public sector efficiency gains. Gordon Brown upped the ante in July. In his Comprehensive Spending Review, he identified substantial savings he thinks are needed to keep his ambitious spending plans for public services on track without raising taxes or increasing borrowing.
The Chancellor now plans to axe about 84,000 Whitehall civil servants over four years, and up to 20,000 more from local, Welsh and Scottish government, plus relocating 20,000 others away from London. The Treasury believes administrative costs across Whitehall can be reduced by 6% a year in real terms, saving about GBP2bn. This is on top of the 2.5% annual efficiency gains announced in the Budget, which Brown says will make GBP20bn a year available by 2007-08 for frontline public services.
This biannual review sets out spending plans for the next three years. With the money he hopes to generate, Brown will be able to increase current spending by an average of 2.5% pa in real terms between 2006 and 2008, while public sector investment is set to rise from 2% to 2.25% of GDP in the period. By 2008, the government will be spending GBP580bn, or about GBP2.3bn every working day. This compares with GBP1.3bn a day 10 years ago.
Critics of the government usually make two telling points about Brown's spending. First, they admit that while he showed great restraint in his early years in office, his spending has been growing faster than GDP in the past few years. This is absolutely true and so the government's share of total spending has been edging upwards, from 37% in 1999 (admittedly a 30-year low) to an expected 41.5% in 2005. This has led to charges of a return to tax and spend Labour government but, viewed in an international context, they seem to be exaggerated.
Even with the recent acceleration, government spending in the UK remains low by European levels. The average for the EU15 is 47.4%, while in France, Finland, Denmark and Sweden the share is above 50%. Only in Spain and Ireland is the proportion of government spending to national income lower than in the UK. It would appear that Brown's boost to the public sector ...
- Public sector financial management.(Brief article)(Book review)
- Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News February 1, 2009 700+ words
...markets and competition in the public sector. Topics include performance budgeting, XBRL, Public Sector Auditing, the golden rule in public finance, and public...practices can be applied to the public sector. Note: The book is not...
- Fiscal report.(public sector finances of the UK)
- Magazine article from: National Institute Economic Review Young, Garry July 1, 1999 700+ words
The public sector finances have been transformed...comfortably meeting the Golden Rule.(1) Table 1 sets out our forecasts of public sector spending, receipts and...We have assumed that public sector spending will be following...
- Statistics office to rescue UK chancellor over Golden Rule.
- Newspaper article from: Sunday Business (London) July 4, 2004 700+ words
...breaching his Golden Rule and without having...in Britain's public sector and further discredit...loopholes in the Golden Rule, including the...reasons why the Golden Rule is not a useful...estimates of public sector depreciation...
- Could the golden rule squeeze PFI? Some commentators have recently suggested...
- Newspaper article from: Public Private Finance Beaumont, Alex December 1, 2003 700+ words
...first of these, the "golden rule", specifies that over...rule", whereby net public sector borrowing as a proportion...significance as to whether the golden rule is kept to or not...sustainability rule. Brown's golden rule, though, is another...
- British chancellor stands by 'golden rule'.
- Newspaper article from: Daily Mail (London) November 29, 2004 700+ words
...Brown will just about meet his golden rule during the current cycle, expected...accounting for the spiralling cost of public sector pensions. It says national debt...Studies believes Brown will meet his golden rule in the current cycle, but forecasts...
- OPINION: Economy puts U.K. financial chief's golden rule at risk.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News October 24, 2004 700+ words
...responsible for it. Public sector net borrowing set a...full-year forecast. Public sector net investment (such...course to break the Golden Rule, which states that...Brown may claim, the public sector is continuing to drag...
- Breaking the golden rule
- Newspaper article from: The Independent - London Gavyn Davies November 29, 1995 700+ words
...Second, under the so-called "golden rule", the Government should borrow...be severe doubts about whether public sector pay, and the provision of health...test of financial viability - the golden rule - has not yet been met. As in...
- Central Roofing follows the golden rule.
- Magazine article from: Roofing Contractor Watts, Tom June 1, 2009 700+ words
...most of a relatively tough market until the economy picks up. "Right now we see most of the available work being in the public sector," Chapman said. "Very few dollars seem to be present in private industry. This will probably continue until the market...
