Francis Maude tells Tory conference that more than 拢1bn has been cut from capital projects

Paymaster general Francis Maude told the Tory party conference yesterday that the government had made a 拢3bn of efficiency savings by reducing government spending.

Maude said the cabinet office had now reviewed over 300 capital projects and cut 拢1bn from their 拢3bn bill. He also said he had saved money by reducing the previous government鈥檚 拢450m annual spend on advertising.

He said: 鈥淚n total these initiatives will save the British taxpayer around 拢3bn just in this financial year.鈥�

The press office was not immediately able to say whether or not this was in addition to the 拢6.2bn of cuts announced within two weeks of the Coalition taking office, and the further 拢2bn of cuts in advance of the government鈥檚 emergncy budget.

The news comes in advance of a speech today by chancellor George Osborne where he is expected to lay out the case for the severe spending cuts the government is committed to, including reducing the government鈥檚 head office civil servants by a third, and scrapping child benefit for high earners.

Maude said he had spent the summer renegotiating major government contracts with suppliers, including contractors, in order to bring the costs down.He said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been negotiating contracts with the government鈥檚 biggest suppliers, dealing with them as a single customer instead of letting them play one part of government off against another. Usually we鈥檙e their biggest customer, so we鈥檙e entitled to get handsome discounts.

鈥淣egotiating this wasn鈥檛 the most glamorous way to spend the first part of August. but so far we鈥檝e saved several hundred million pounds just in this financial year alone.鈥�

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