Issue brief - Comprehensive Spending Review
The Issue
As part of its preparations for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, the government is conducting a fundamental long-term assessment of its expenditure, with the aim of maximising value for money across all public spending.
This will cover not only the levels of and, priorities for, government spending, but also the structure of government required to deliver these priorities over the next decade.
HM Treasury (HMT) has identified five key trends and challenges that it intends to examine during the review, in order to identify their impact on policy priorities and means of delivery. These are:
- Globalisation and the emergence of rapidly industrialising economies such as India and China.
- Demographic and socio-economic change including the rapid increase in the old age dependency ratio.
- Technological change looking at acceleration in the pace of innovation.
- Climate and environmental change examining further pressures on natural resources and greater risks from climate change.
- Global uncertainty with ongoing threats from international terrorism and global conflicts
EEF's Objectives
On the spending side, we want the government to take a tighter grip on public spending growth with real terms growth in spending slowing from the previous five years. At the same time, we believe that there needs to be a renewed drive on public sector reform to ensure that the resources available are better spent more efficiently than they have in the past.
We will be submitting our recommendations to the government in due course, but have been actively engaging with the Treasury and the DTI in the interim. Within the spending limits which are set, we want to see essential business support programmes such as the Manufacturing Advisory Service and UK Trade & Investment safeguarded. EEF also wants to see a greater share of resources devoted to high value activities in the areas of science, innovation and skills.