Seven Association Alliance urges Chancellor to cut public spending
Monday, 4 October 2010
The BPF coordinated 7 Association Alliance of polymer related interest groups has written a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt. Hon George Osborne MP ahead of The Comprehensive Spending Review on 20th October which will determine fixed spending budgets over several years for each government department.
The letter urges a 10% cut in the public sector workforce by 2015/16 together with a public sector pay freeze for two years.
At the same time the Alliance recommended the maintenance of public sector capital spending on infrastructural projects at not less than 2.25% GDP so that the UK’s competitiveness is not impaired. It believes that building and repair of public sector housing should be a priority with the large increase in population forecast.
A further big item on the Alliance’s wish-list is for a consolidation the national manufacturing export effort through UKTI by withdrawing export functions from the RDA’s.
The Alliance reminded government that the National Audit office found that the public sector spent £2.8 billion on expensive management consultancy firms.
Peter Davis, Director-General of the BPF said, “Many of the projects managed by consultancies could be more cost-effectively handled by trade associations which are the expert bodies for their sectors and to whom the consultancies have frequent recourse for information. It would be better value if government used the trade associations in the first place.”
The Alliance letter made trenchant comments on eight aspects of government activity:
- Getting Public Expenditure under control
- Infrastructure Investment
- Investment in Energy Provision
- Investment in Housing
- Support for Exporting
- Inexpensive Consultancy help for Government
- Innovation partnerships between Business and Universities
- Support for Industrial Training
To read the full copy of the letter please, click here
The Eight Association Alliance comprises the following associations: The British Plastics Federation (BPF), British Rubber & Polyurethane Products Association (BRPPA), British Coatings Federation (BCF), Packaging & Films Association (PAFA), Gauge & Toolmakers Association (GTMA), Scottish Plastics & Rubber Association (SPRA) and Northern Ireland Polymers Association (NIPA).
ENDS
For all media enquiries, BPF logo and images, please contact Rita Ogole, Senior Public Affairs Executive on 0207 457 5043 or email [email protected]
Notes to editor
British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the UK trade association for the plastics industry – representing the whole supply chain including polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.
For more information visit www.bpf.co.uk
About The Comprehensive Spending Review
The Spending Review is a Treasury-led process to allocate resources across all government departments, according to the Government's priorities. Spending Reviews set firm and fixed spending budgets over several years for each department. It is then up to departments to decide how best to manage and distribute this spending within their areas of responsibility.
In addition to setting departmental budgets, the 2010 Spending Review will also examine non-departmental spending that cannot be firmly fixed over a period of several years, including social security, tax credits, some elements of local authority spending and spending financed from the proceeds of the National Lottery.
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