Government spending: what would you cut?

Its not simply a case of 'scrapping quangos'. This would make for a one-off reduction but the underlying process would continue: any given bureaucracy would feel the need to continue to expand in order to meet the needs of the bureaucracy generally; bureaucrats would still have an incentive to 'maximise their bureaus'; and many huge spending projects would be left untouched.

To me, the classic is the continued increase in civilian Police caseworkers. You cannot cut these in isolation, because that would then leave the Police themselves unable to function: somebody would still need to fill in all the forms going from the Police to other agencies: e.g. the Crown Prosecution Service, the Court Service, the Probation Service, Social Services, so-called Victim Support, the immigration service, legal aid people blah blah blah.

We need a fundamental change in the dynamic: -

- Whole inter-dependent clusters of bureaucracy need to be scrapped together;

- Incentives need to be changed e.g. the subsidy from Central to Local Government should in part be allocated on the basis of which councils outsource back-office jobs to India or replace them full-stop with computers.

- Lower down managers/Heads-of-Department need to be incentivised to implement 'business process re-engineering' themselves (i.e. figure out ways of cutting out people and manual intervention). Some of the public-sector admin processes would put many a crap life office in a good light.

- Quangos and Government Agencies need to be subject to a 'London Cap' i.e. made to move out of London to less expensive places like Bolton or Barrow.

- There needs to be a 'Regulators Regulatory Authority' (like a beefed-up Audit Commision/NAO) with the power to penalise and fine individual bureaucrats who spend too much, over-step the mark etc.

- Market Mechanisms need to be introduced to put a downward pressure on costs e.g. the old pre-97 Health Service 'internal market' with private delivery (for profit!) if (and only if) such companies can deliver better quality for lower cost;

- There needs to be a ban on using 'external consultants' as such. The £12bn NHS IT project (which doesn't work) is a case in point. If they want IT, they should try doing what our firm does: buy standard stuff off-the-shelf or pick-up the bloody manual and figure it out themselves.

- Senior management in the public-sector should be given 4 years to obtain private sector accountancy qualifications. (With no Grandfathering)

Then there are one-off public projects that we could save on: -

- Give the Olympics to the French

- Scrap ID cards

- Do we really need to re-new Trident right now?

- And for f***s sake, let's not bail-out any more Banks, Car makers etc.

But 2 items of huge ongoing public-sector waste can be reformed very easily: -

- Cut/Scrap/Cap/Reform public sector pensions. This is potentially huge.

- Close Down the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation ('BBC'), scrap the license fee and auction-off the frequencies to the highest-bidders.

- Cull the numbers of MPs (And their expenses) and the number of people holding Government Jobs (Ministers etc)

I could go on...

I believe that all Public Sector Pensions should be converted from Final Salary to Money Purchase and that the Public Sector workers should have to pay a realistic amount into the funds.

The schemes are a huge drain on future resources and will eventually bankrupt the Country.

It is unfair that those in the private sector have to subsidise so many people's pensions when they can not afford to fund for a decent pension themselves.

The Government should set the example by scrapping the MPs' golden pensions.

I know the move would be a political disaster but the Labour Party have nothing to lose and may as well do it now!

Simple, cut everything that is an add-on i.e. Quango's-"special advisors " Identity Cards. Reduce the " (UN) Civil Service by 20% at least-no if's no but's just do it.

I had a similar problem with a company some years ago and saved it by getting using this measure and it worked.

You got us into this mess, it is your duty to get us out of it !

Cuts for MP's they used to do it for nothing and proud of it, so bring back that attitude.

Civil Servants cannot have their current rate of Pension because WE cannot afford it- we are poor now and they are living offf the fat of the land-hard to sack and better pensions than private business.I could go on but that is for starters.

Simple, cut everything that is an add-on i.e. Quango's-"special advisors " Identity Cards. Reduce the " (UN) Civil Service by 20% at least-no if's no but's just do it.

I had a similar problem with a company some years ago and saved it by getting using this measure and it worked.

You got us into this mess, it is your duty to get us out of it !

Cuts for MP's they used to do it for nothing and proud of it, so bring back that attitude.

Civil Servants cannot have their current rate of Pension because WE cannot afford it- we are poor now and they are living offf the fat of the land-hard to sack and better pensions than private business.I could go on but that is for starters.

AND Golden Bruns throat..................

Until recently I would not have got rid of teh BBC, but I do now believe it has outgrown it's usefullness and IS too politically influenced.

Anyone working for the State who does not do a job that directly influences those they suposedly serve should go.

All excess administration and bureaucracy should go. We need less administration and more of those doing the job from the Police, nurses and teachers on the front line, not paper pushing.

Less MP's probably cut by half from 600 odd to 300 or so. That would save a pretty packet.

Less Lords too.

Regulate financial products and reduce the sixe of the FSA by half or more and give the Bank of England back regulation of the Banks

Makes taxes simple and easy to understand and pay and ideally just one or two levels of tax then reduce the administation accordingly.

Make the unemployed work (those who can) doing jobs for their local community rather than paying them to stay at home.

Increase VAT back to 17.5% to help pay back some debt.

Scrap the Human Rights Act and use ordinary laws that we have already. Hopefully ending the rediculous cost of tax payer funded legal aid cases which should never have been brought to court.

End the Compensation Culture.

All pensions to be properly funded with modest amounts paid by the tax payer similar to the Private Sector.

That should save a billion or two

The following would seem an excellent place to begin the cull: -

http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/jobs/housing/

Why this simple Labour bashing? Why on earth has David Cameron pledged to stand-by Labour's target for foreign aid? Per Capita GDP in Africa is now lower than it was 35 years ago, suggesting that foreign aid is simply being used to prop-up corrupt regimes. They were better off as colonies and should they wish to receive any more UK Aid, that is what they should go back to. We could however perhaps give them some of their own people back? That would kill 2 birds with one stone.

I was aiming lower.

Well, I would cut the election cost. I would definitely not allow the private companies to cut jobs indiscriminately. I would rather make the govt. give some assurances and support to them and ask them to secure jobs. http://tiny.cc/tU3yJ

Regards,

N

I think i remember reading that the Texas legislative body (whatever its called over there) is only allowed to sit for something like 00 days max in a year. Principle being that if something isnt important enough to do in that time each year then it doesnt need doing. Saves money on the politicians, their support, the physical costs of parliament, etc...plus it removes the need to think of things to make laws about just coz you have the time to do it.

Same thing over here would work well, but limit it to 20 days a year, then they could all get real jobs as well and do it in their holidays as they claim to be doing it for love more than money anyway ...

Then employ a few COMPETENT professionals to keep things ticking over for 11 months

That should have read "100 days" of course....!

It is time to concentrate on our core product, Great Britain Ltd to re-establish our credit rating and the comfort of the UK taxpayer.

Let us start by cutting overseas (outside of Britain) expenditure. overseas aid to the despots in Africa, stop the ridiculous payment to China and particularly the European Union which has not been able to have it's 'books' audited for about 13 years becasue of the corruption therein.

Cut the political rubbish, such as the hugely expensive, and bound to fail I.D. card scheme, the NHS computised patients scheme, hugeley expensive and failed, and all the other high expense ideas created by politician looking for headlines.

Simplify the UK tax system which is twice as complicated as any other country (we even put the highly beaurocratic India (sorry can't spell) to shame.

Modify the NHS to be EFFICIENT by cutting out the huge levels of management, cut Doctors bonus's (they earn enough already from the taxpayer).

Grasp the nettle and resolve the huge discrepancy in Public/Private pay and pensions. It has to be done sometime soon and should have been done yesterday.

Stop the Benefit scroungers - and I mean STOP THEM. Can you believe that we still have 2nd and 3rd generation families on benefits. Get tough and get them working.

Stop the UK getting into wars by deception just becasue the USA says we have to. Start 'kicking butt' in the USA and demand our share of rebuilding Iraq instead of allowing US companies to make all the benefits.

They say Mr Obamha has been the busiest President in his first few months for decades. That is what the UK needs! Not radical changes, but changes that should have been made years ago.

Who can do this for the UK. Look sideways at Boris Johnson. Look at what he has achieved for London in his first few months. Sorry Mr Cameron, apart from having a Scottish name, I do not think that it at all possible that from yor soft life you can rise to do great things. Boris has aready done them on a small scale, and he is our only hope on a National scale. It's either him or me - and you don't want me because I would not wilt at making the saving and lack of waste that has become indemic in our Government.

I don't make a habit of replying to comments in NMA but I was very disappointed (and deeply saddened) to read a very flippant remark made by Michael Fallas in you 11 May publication.

I would just like to remind him what human rights include:

the right to life

protection from torture

protection from slavery and forced labour

right to respect for private and family life

protection from discrimination

I take it none if this applies in his own little world?