By now it is clear that Chancellor George Osborne will announce steep tax rises and outline spending cuts that will be pretty horrendous. The good news is that the government is taking the task to reduce the enormous budget deficit seriously.
But the challenge will be to use this Budget as a platform to set out a blueprint for a radical public sector reform. Although media headlines will be about tax rises and spending cuts, the real issue the country faces is how to bring about the fundamental changes in the way public services are provided.
The chancellor needs to send a very stark message to the public sector - that public services provision as we know it is not sustainable any longer, it is simply out-dated and not efficient enough. In the future, our public services need to deliver more for a lot less, we need to protect what the public really values in their services, rather than just what they are used to getting, we need to re-motivate demoralised public service staff and providers and create a sustainable culture of fast-paced and ambitious reform.
If we are to avoid swingeing cuts in front-line services, big and bold steps will be required. We need to start planning for fundamental changes that will be painful, not least in terms of job losses, but which will enable the public sector to live within its means. We need an ambitious and radical programme of public service reform to introduce much greater financial and commercial discipline and to drive up productivity, which has lagged well behind productivity in the private sector for more than a decade.
Alan Downey is UK head of public sector at KPMG
