Despite my doubts that the Conservatives would ditch the whole “Spending Reviews” (medium-term budgets plus performance targets) system, it appears they may not, at least not entirely.
Philip Johnson of the Daily Telegraph reported in an excellent article in Public Finance that the Tories plan to retain the Spending Reviews – although I have since learnt that it remains unlikely that they would keep the associated Public Service Agreements (PSAs). Tory rhetoric against “targets” has been very strong and retaining PSAs seems completely counter this rhetoric. Senior Tory figures also seem to think that whilst trying to stick to medium term budgets, to avoid damaging annual battles over cuts, the realties of the political and public finances situation make this ‘challenging’. Watch this space….
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