14 January 2005
The Conservatives would demand £4.43bn in efficiency savings from local authorities, with Whitehall cuts yielding a further £2.3bn, they announced this week.
Efficiency trouble-shooter David James, who has been conducting a series of expenditure reviews for the party, said cutting council red tape and refocusing spending would net the savings.
The savings included £1.4bn from cutting local authorities' office expenditure, and £2.4bn by using e-procurement.
James has also advocated scrapping the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its regional quangos in favour of a slimmed down local government department, saving £255m.
Abolishing the inspection regime would net £1bn, with a further £1bn saved by scrapping the sustainable communities programme.
The sale of capital assets would generate the rest of the savings needed to meet the targets.
Announcing the plans on January 11, shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said: 'The Conservatives will reverse the culture of central government control.'
PFjan2005
