U.K. Ministers Told To Save Cash For Johnson Spending Priorities

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid wants to cut public spending by as much as 5% in some government departments, to free up money for Boris Johnson’s priorities including health care, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In a letter signed by both Javid and Johnson, cabinet ministers were told to come up with radical options to find savings that would be used to improve policing, the National Health Service and to tackle regional inequality. The letter, sent on Wednesday, was first reported by Sky News.

Javid has set new fiscal rules allowing for an extra 20 billion pounds of borrowing a year to fund investment in infrastructure projects. But he’s also promised to keep day-to day spending in balance. The Conservative election manifesto promised to provide tens of billions of pounds more for the NHS, teachers and cutting crime.

The savings need to be identified by March 2, ahead of a spending review due to take place in the summer or fall, the person said. Each cabinet minister has been asked to identify 10 poor value projects that could be axed.

“We have been elected with a clear fiscal mandate to keep control of day to day spending,” the letter, also reported in The Sun newspaper, said. “This means there will need to be savings made across government to free up money to invest in our priorities.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny

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