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The nation’s ever-expanding fiscal gap was examined recently in a video debate organised by PricewaterhouseCoopers and chaired by Public Finance editor Mike Thatcher.
Convened the day after the Pre-Budget Report, the panel of experts comprised: Jon Rouse, chief executive of the London Borough of Croydon; Richard Reeves, director of Demos; and Jon Sibson, head of PwC’s government and public sector practice.
The panellists discussed whether chancellor Alistair Darling had done enough in the PBR to avert disaster or whether he should have gone further and considered Irish-style cuts. Other issues covered included: the role of efficiency savings; whether Big Society can replace Big Government; the move to Easy Councils; and the likelihood of a ‘bonfire of the quangos’.
