17.06.13
TaxPayers’ Alliance demands pay and pensions cuts for public workers
Public spending on “useless projects” has cost households £4,500 each, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has warned in a new report, which urges the Government to chop £53bn off the pay and pensions packages of public sector workers to bring them into line with the private sector average.
The anti-tax pressure group has identified cuts which could save £120bn, it says, including £25bn that is wasted through inefficient procurement and £20.3bn lost through fraud.
Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: “George Osborne must take the golden opportunity offered by the spending review to get the nation's finances under control and ease the burden on taxpayers.
“The latest Bumper Book of Government Waste shows that tens of billions of pounds are still wasted each year and there is an enormous amount of fat left in the public sector. If ministers do something about it, they can give taxpayers a better deal and still provide the front line services which people depend on the most.
“More money must be left in the pockets of struggling households who need it to support their own families and their own causes. They will get better value than any politician or bureaucrat.”
The report states: “Nearly £120bn of taxpayers' money was wasted or spent on useless projects by the Government in 2011-12.
“We have identified and listed hundreds of examples of spending by politicians and bureaucrats that can be cut without closing a single hospital, firing a single teacher or disbanding a single regiment.”
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “This Government has accelerated its work tackling waste and the Cabinet Office recently announced achieved savings of £10bn over 2012/13.
“We are taking radical decisions to make Whitehall leaner and more efficient so Britain can compete in the global race, and we are pleased to see The TaxPayers' Alliance recognise this – but we agree there is more to do.
“We will push ahead with our programme of reforms to the Civil Service, stripping out waste and buying more goods and services centrally.
“Our reforms to public sector pensions will save the taxpayer billions and strike a fairer balance between the contributions by workers and the taxpayer, and we are working to reform outdated terms and conditions in the Civil Service. Hard-working taxpayers rightly expect their money to be spent wisely.”
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