UK eyes removing 300 agencies to cut costs, says report
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The cuts are the latest in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s drive to reduce wasteful spending and reform the state.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – The British government is considering scrapping or merging more than 300 agencies as part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s effort to cut costs, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden has written to government departments asking them to justify the existence of every quango, or quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation, the newspaper said.
The minister is expected to soon announce the first wave on the chopping block, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials.
The cuts are the latest in Mr Starmer’s drive to reduce wasteful spending and reform the state.
The government has made recent moves to axe its National Health Service and consolidate the Payment Systems Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority.
It also plans to cancel thousands of civil servants’ credit cards, in a move reminiscent of billionaire Elon Musk’s federal cost-cutting effort
Britain’s strained public finances and lackluster growth projections saw Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announce a £14 billion (S$24.3 billion) package of politically divisive cuts to welfare and government departments at the spring fiscal statement in March. BLOOMBERG
