06 August 2004
The total value of government assets to be sold off in the next six years may exceed Gordon Brown's £30bn target, the man charged with finding the savings has told Public Finance.
Sir Michael Lyons said that if more savings could be found, probably through selling government land and buildings, then he will recommend these to the chancellor.
'The £30bn figure is based on a continuation of recent trends,' said Lyons. 'He [the chancellor] wants to be advised whether these trends can be banked on. If we can find more, clearly he would be interested.'
The sell-off was announced by the chancellor in last month's Spending Review. He set a target of finding £30bn worth of sales across all government departments, local government and public corporations by 2010. The process has already started.
Lyons has begun writing to departmental permanent secretaries telling them to identify efficiencies. He said that he wants to report to the chancellor with his list of intended savings by the end of the financial year.
Lyons denied that the assets sale could prompt a fresh round of privatisations. Channel 4, the Royal Mint and the Royal Mail have all been rumoured to be on a list of sell-offs but Lyons said: 'My remit is not limited to land and buildings but we haven't talked about privatisations.'
The announcement of asset sales averaging £5bn annually until 2010 has been criticised in some quarters. Opponents claim it is politically eye-catching but in reality represents only the same volume of disposals that have taken place in the past few years.
PFaug2004
