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Sir Keir Starmer will next week launch a major six-month review of all government spending, and ministers will be told to make their case for the scarcity of public funds in bargaining with the Treasury.
The UK prime minister has warned ministries that they will have to fight for money within the tight Whitehall spending framework set by chancellor Rachel Reeves in October’s budget, in the so-called “ground zero” review.
“It will be bruised, but it has to be,” said one government official. Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones will set out the terms of the spending review, which ends next June, in a letter to ministers on Tuesday.
Starmer’s allies say the money will be allocated according to the priorities set out by the prime minister in his “a plan for change” on Thursday, which focused on living standards, homes and infrastructure, hospitals, early education, green energy and crime.
Starmer he will also face pressure to increase military spending, with a defense review due to report early next year on when and how Britain should increase spending from 2.3 per cent of national income to 2.5 per cent.
On Friday, the Prime Minister confirmed his message to consumer ministers that they can no longer expect additional taxes or borrowing to pay for higher public spending.
He asked BBC Breakfast will taxes go up again in this parliament Starmer said: “I don’t want to suggest that we’re going to keep going back for more because that’s not the plan.
“What I can’t tell you is that there are no unforeseen circumstances in the future that will not lead to any change.”
Reeves’ budget set departmental spending caps for 2025-26. in a £40bn tax-raising package which has invested billions of pounds in public services this year and next.
But the chancellor has put off tough long-term decisions on public spending, with overall expenditure growth set to slow after 2025-26. to a real rate of 1.3 percent per year.
Reeves, writes in the Financial Timesshe said on Friday that she would bring in private sector experts to advise on how to get the best value for money from the spending review.
“To maximize the value of every pound, the spending review will be zero-based, meaning every single line will be assessed on whether it represents value for money and is a priority for this government,” she said.
“No vanity projects. No problem. No tricks. But practical goals based on whether the public feels in their daily lives that we have brought about the change we promised,” added Reeves.
Meanwhile, Starmer sought to calm fury in the civil service over his claim on Thursday that “too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline”.
Dave Penman, head of the FDA union which represents 20,000 senior civil servants, said Starmer’s words were “frankly offensive to those who try to deliver and run our public services”.
In a letter to Starmer, Penman condemned the Prime Minister’s “Trumpian language”, adding that civil servants should be “motivated and inspired, not ridiculed and defamed”.
Whitehall insiders said the prime minister had been warned his comments had sparked outrage. Later, Starmer tried to defuse the row by saying civil servants “bring a strong sense of public service to everything they do”.
But he added: “At the same time, I also know that we have to push through the reform.” We need to deliver government in a better way. And actually talking to government officials, they know they want it.”
