REEVES CONFIRMS PLANS TO CUT CIVIL SERVICE SPENDING COSTS – Reeves also said she wants to see trade barriers come down with the U.S. and the EU
Rachel Reeves said she is planning to reduce the administration budgets for the civil service by 15% by 2029.
The move could put thousands of jobs at risk and covers back office jobs, including in communications and policy, human resources, and financial procurement management jobs, but will likely exclude frontline service roles such as the border force and prisons.
Reeves will likely announce belt-tightening measures to get back on track to meet her fiscal rules this Wednesday when she delivers a half-yearly budget update speech alongside fresh economic and public finance forecasts from Britain’s fiscal watchdog.
Reeves also said she wants to see trade barriers come down with the United States and the European Union.
In her first full budget last October, Reeves sought to show investors that she could be trusted with the public finances by announcing a rule to bring day-to-day spending into balance with tax revenue by the end of the decade. But she is believed to have been knocked off course already by slower than expected economic growth and higher borrowing costs in financial markets.
Asked whether she thinks Britain will be left out of Trump’s expected tariffs, the chancellor said Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a “really good meeting” with Trump in the White House a few weeks ago.
