Tuesday 10 November 2015

Osborne: Defra will see 30% spending cut

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is to see its spending reduced by around 30% in the next four years.

Chancellor George Osborne revealed Defra, along with three other government departments, have reached a provisional agreement with the Treasury over the budget cuts.

Making the announcement yesterday, he said: “These savings will be achieved by a combination of further efficiencies in departments, closing low value programmes and focusing on our priorities as a country.

“These provisional settlements apply to the day to day resource spending of the central departments - they are not the capital budgets of these departments.”

It comes ahead of the Spending Review this month - which will be audited for its environmental impact - when Mr Osborne plans to cut £20 billion of government spending in the next four years.

Last month the Chancellor committed to spending £100 million in infrastructure projects, including energy, by the end of the decade.