Chancellor ‘needs radical review on spending’ as NHS and schools are stretched to ‘breaking point’
THE CHANCELLOR has been urged to sanction a radical review of Government spending - as the NHS and schools were being stretched to “breaking point”.
Just a week before the Budget, a think tank said an independent body should be created to review every pound going on public services.
The Institute for Government said the Treasury books had to be opened up to public scrutiny to check efficiency and the long-term strategy behind Whitehall decisions.
In a withering report it said departments currently seemed to rely on little more than "wishful thinking".
It added that since 2015 ministers had been unable to maintain the quality of public services while controlling costs - with prisons already in crisis.
It said the new body should mirror the Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent economic forecaster.
Julian McCrae, IFG deputy director, said: “As we’ve seen with prisons, social care and now potentially hospitals, the Government risks getting into a cycle of crisis, cash, repeat.
“This report is not a call for more money. It is a call for better financial planning and reforms that are robust enough to survive public scrutiny.”
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The blast came as a separate think tank gave a boost to the Chancellor by saying the Government may borrow £29 billion less than expected between now and 2020 – handing Ministers a potential windfall ahead of next week's Budget.
Resolution said healthier-than-expected tax receipts and strong growth following were set to produce the first fall in borrowing for three years.
But the IFG said the pressures on services were “real and easy to identify” with prisons already “beyond breaking point” following cuts to guards.
The Treasury announced a £500 million prisons package in the Autumn Statement last November to try and fix the crisis.
The IFG said the NHS and adult social care could be next.
And it warned: “Without action, within the next two years the Government could face a disastrous combination of failing public services and breached spending controls.”