Spending Round 2013: from rescue to recovery

forward to a friend | open in web browser | subscribe | unsubscribe   June 2013   SPENDING ROUND RESCUE TO RECOVERY   Dear Sir/Madam, Today I have published the Spending Round, which sets out our spending priorities and choices for 2015/16. Labour left us with the largest deficit since the Second World War. We borrowed £1 in every £4 that we spent. We had to take tough decisions to bring our economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. While recovery from such a deep recession is never straightforward, Britain is moving out of intensive care  - from rescue to recovery. The Spending Round sets out how we will secure that recovery. Of course the choices are difficult, and there is no easy route out of a mess as big as the one Labour created. The departmental settlements I have announced today will reduce current spending by £11.5 billion in 2015-16. But every decision we have taken is based on three principles: delivering reform, prioritising growth and ensuring fairness. Through reform, we are determined to get more from every pound we spend. We are clamping down on waste across Whitehall - £5 billion of the savings today come from efficiency savings. By reforming elsewhere, we are able to announce that we will not cut the number of soldiers, sailors or airmen. By homing in on efficiency and driving through public service reform, we are delivering better services and bringing down Government spending. To deliver growth, we are investing in education, enterprise and the economic infrastructure we need so that we can win the global race. Today I have announced there will be over £300 billion in capital spending guaranteed over the next decade. We are setting out long-term funding to science and schools, boosting apprenticeship funding, and prioritising education – we will provide for 180 new Free Schools in 2015-16. I know that Government spending alone cannot create growth. Enterprise does. We need to provide the schools, science, transport links and reliable energy that enable business to grow. To ensure fairness, we are making sure that those with the broadest shoulders bear the greatest burden. We are also reforming welfare so that it is fair to both those who need it and those who pay for it. That is why we have announced an overall cap on welfare spending from April 2015 and have set out a package of reforms that will put in place new conditions on people claiming out-of-work benefits: half of jobseekers will have to go to a jobcentre once a week, claimants must do an Upfront Job Search and wait 7 days before claiming benefits, and claimants will be required to learn English if they don’t already speak it. The decisions we take are not easy, and I know that times are difficult.   But with today’s Spending Round, we make more progress towards an economy that prospers, a state we can afford, a deficit coming down and a Britain that is on the rise. George Osborne Chancellor of the Exchequer     Blocked by your spam filter? Add bulletin@news.conservatives.com to your address book Want to unsubscribe? Click here This email and any attachments to it (the "Email") are intended for a specific recipient(s) and its contents may be confidential, privileged and/or otherwise protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by telephone or email, and delete it from your records. You must not disclose, distribute, copy or otherwise use this Email. Please note that email is not a secure form of communication and that the Conservative Party ("the Party") is not responsible for loss arising from viruses contained in this Email nor any loss arising from its receipt or use. Any opinion expressed in this Email is not necessarily that of the Party and may be personal to the sender. Promoted by Alan Mabbutt on behalf of the Conservative Party, both at 30 Millbank, London, SW1P 4DP Con

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