County Sound Radio’s Coverage of the Government Spending Review

On Wednesday October 20th the coalition Government announced the results of its Comprehensive Spending Review.

It outlined which Government departments need to make savings and just how much money they need to save in order to reduce the UK’s budget deficit.

Below is an outline of the main points announced by Chancellor George Osborne, as well as a number of interviews with key people in Surrey and Hampshire looking at how the cuts might affect them

COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW AT A GLANCE

• Average departmental savings of 19 per cent over next four years


• 490,000 public sector jobs will go over 4 years


• £81 billion pounds in savings

SECURITY

• Police spending to fall by 4 per cent each year for four years


• Home Office savings of 6 per cent a year for four years


• Justice Ministry to save 6 per cent a year for four years

HEALTH

• Spending to rise each year for four years


• £2 billion to be invested in social care


• Dementia care budget to be increased

EDUCATION

• A real increase in money for schools for four years - the budget will rise from £35 billion to £39 billion


• £2.5 billion ‘pupil premium’ to be introduced for the poorest children


• Extra places in education to be created for 16-19 yr olds


• Sure Start scheme protected


• Education savings of 1 per cent a year


• £15.8 billion put aside to refurbish schools


• University funding to fall 7.1 per cent

CHILD TAX CREDITS

• Child tax credit to be increased by £30 in 2012 and £50 in 2013


• Child benefit for higher-rate tax payers to be abolished - this will save £2.5 billion a year

WELFARE

• Single universal welfare credit to be created - at a cost of £2 billion


• New cap on benefits - no family that doesn't work will receive more than the average family that does work


• £7 billion of savings in the Welfare Budget


• Winter fuel payments to stay

PENSIONS

• State pension age to rise to 66 for men and women by 2020


• Universal pension benefits to be protected


• Final salary pension for MPs to end

TRANSPORT

• £30 billion to be invested in transport projects over 4 years


• The A3 Hindhead Tunnel project will go ahead


• 10 junctions on M25 will be widened


• Crossrail to go ahead


• Key London Underground lines to be upgraded


• The cap on rail fairs will rise to 3 per cent above RPI for 3 years from 2012

BANKS

• A permanent levy will be introduced for all banks


• Banks must implement a code of practice

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Overall savings of 7.1 per cent in council funding a year for 4 years


• A 'massive devolution' in financial control for councils

OTHER HEADLINES

• Royal household spending will fall by 14 per cent


• The TV Licence Fee will be frozen for 6 years


• £1.5 billion put aside for victims of the collapse of Equitable Life


• £900m more to be spent on tax evasion and fraud - this will help collect a missing £7m

HOW WILL THE SPENDING REVIEW AFFECT YOU?

Mark Garnett is director of Guildford accountants Smith & Williamson - he looks at what was announced:

DEFENCE

On Tuesday October 19th the Government announced the results of it's Strategic Defence Review.

Here is a brief overview of what was announced:

• Budget will fall by 8% in total.


• Operations in Afghanistan will get the funding it needs - from the special reserves budget.


• 17,000 military personnel will go over the next 4 years.


• 7,000 of those from across Army


• 5,000 in the Navy and RAF


• Its presumed quite a lot of them will be forces that are based in Germany at the moment.


• HMS Ark Royal to be scrapped along with Harrier Jump Jets.


• More funds for special forces.


• 25,000 civilian jobs to go - mostly at Ministry of Defence.


• Trident has been postponed until 2016


• Nimrod cancelled - so RAF Kinloss will close - but it may be used to house the troops coming back from Germany.


• A new training hub in south Wales has been cancelled.


• It means military bases across Surrey and Hampshire will maintain their current levels of training (for full story click here)

Spending on defence will have a big impact on Surrey and Hampshire's military towns.

Haslemere-based defence consultant Christopher Samuel has been speaking to Elizabeth Williams:

BUSINESS

Pauline Hedges from Surrey Chambers of Commerce has been speaking to Elizabeth Williams:

Surrey and Hampshire’s Businesses could bear the brunt of the Government’s spending review. That’s according to an Odiham Businessman.
Paul Skinner, from PKS Mortgage Brokers, is warning against a 25 percent cut in funding to local councils:

FIRE AND RESCUE

Fire and Rescue workers in Surrey are expecting to be hit by the cuts, but there is a warning that a drastic reduction in funding could cost lives.

Chair of Surrey's Fire Brigade Union, Paul Greenwood, has been speaking to Anthony Zahra:

EDUCATION

Budgets for Education are on a knife’s edge and many of Surrey’s schools are already going into the red.
That’s according to Surrey Secretary of the National Union of Teachers – Ted Truscoe. Here he’s talking to reporter Elizabeth Williams about his fears for Wednesday’s spending review announcement:

POLICE

Surrey’s Police officers are awaiting the Spending Review on Wednesday with baited breath.
Chairman of Surrey Police Federation, Kieran Diamond, has been speaking to reporter Elizabeth Williams: