Member News
The prime minister has revealed some of the thousands of suggestions on public spending submitted by the public.
Speaking at a "PM Direct" meeting in Brighton today, David Cameron highlighted some of the ideas to save money that have been submitted to the Treasury's spending challenge website.
"We have had 67,000 e-mails with ideas and letters from people within the public sector coming up with some great ideas," he said.
"Some big ideas, sometimes quite small ideas, but great ideas for how we save money.
"Someone working in the immigration system said it is mad that when people appeal against a visa decision, even though that appeal may cost £10,000, that appeal is entirely free.
"Something else we can change."
According to the website, one idea submitted involves "galvanising local support for teams of 'civic gardeners' to help to maintain local authority gardens, shrubbery and plants which may have fallen into disrepair.
"This could save the local authorities money while offering people who don't have their own gardens but enjoy gardening the opportunity to get involved."
Cameron told the audience in Brighton that the government can reduce the deficit and cut spending in a way that is fair and responsible.
Last month shadow Treasury minister Angela Eagle said the website was filled with "drivel".
Eagle said suggestions posted on the site included "sterilising the poor, reopening the workhouses, asking single parents who can't finance their children to terminate the pregnancy, benefit claimants to work in sweatshops and immigrants to be moved out of cities".
In a video message on the website, chancellor George Osborne says:
"I'm asking the general public for their views.
"Tell us – Where's the waste? What should we cut out? What can we improve? What's working really well that we should be doing more of?
"You let us know. Your government needs you – please get in touch."
To date, a total of 100,000 ideas have been submitted to the Treasury's spending challenge website, which ministers have said will form part of the spending review due in October.
Article Comments
Publicise the details of what the coalition will deprive their families of as a result of their cuts to show they are going 'through the same pain' they tell us we have to suffer. I'm sure if we know for certain that their children will not be able to go on a summer holiday/go to the cinema/buy a new book/a new dress - or their wives will not be able to afford to go to the hairdresser or have a new kitchen or that they risk losing their home, then we'll all try that bit harder, with a bit more grace, to live with the cuts.
Dianne
12th Aug 2010 at 8:33 pm
Stop ALL security which is paid for out of public money for ex ministers (especially Tony Blair) and all members of the royal family except for the Queen and her IMMEDIATE family. These people have enough money - and more - to pay for it themselves.
Dianne
12th Aug 2010 at 8:25 pm
Make ALL Police, Fire and Ambulance vehicles, Crown vehicles. Make them all exempt from Road Tax.
This will save Councils thousands of pounds. The lost revenue will be a drop in the ocean to the Government.
AND
Pass law which says...'any woman having more than two children with certain exceptions will not be able to claim for them' ever..!!!
Wayne Brittain
12th Aug 2010 at 2:53 pm
Withdraw British Troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and cut Trident. Tax all bank profits punitively, and abolish interest payments of all kinds. Profit sharing from successful enterprises would then be the only legitimate way to make money 'grow', leading to a healthy and prosperous private sector.
These four measures would soon stop up the hole in the government's bank account, and without taxing people who had no part in the debacles that caused the record deficit.
Harfiyah Haleem
6th Aug 2010 at 4:50 pm
I think a great way to save money is to spend more on providing extra physiotherapy services. Lots of elderly people have to stay in hospital or go into retirement homes because they have problems walking or doing things with their hands. They can't get the physiotherapy they need to remain independent because there are massive waiting lists for physio.
And it's not just elderly people either. People who are recovering from accidents or have disabling illnesses such as MS are in a similar situation. They want to get back to work and carry on living but the physiotherapy they need to get back on their feet is not readily available - it could be months or even longer before they get the help they need. And even then, they may get little more than an exercise sheet with diagrams showing them what to do. There just isn't enough physiotherapy to go round. But the cost of employing more physiotherapists is much cheaper than the alternatives.
Caroline Porter
6th Aug 2010 at 12:46 pm
I would suggest that the British foreign aid budget should not be supplied in terms of cash but rather as goods manufactured in Britain or services provided exclusively from British tax-paying companies. Each country offering such aid could operate the same policy.
That the goods or services provided by the British portion of an overall aid package are manufactured or supplied exclusively by British companies is the key to this suggestion as it would, in our case, essentially inject the £7.8bn aid planned for this year directly back into the British economy so helping to lever us out of recession through securing British jobs; British supply chains (a British supply chain being a criteria to companies wishing to engage these funds); injecting significant tax revenues into our economy that might otherwise be lost overseas; and avoiding the opportunity for the corrupt diversion of funds should that ever be a factor. This suggestion seems to offer a win win opportunity to me. British funds would support British jobs through supplying British goods and services directly to those people that need them.
I cannot foresee anything that might be needed that can't be purchased in Britain - from wheat to tractors to British luxury cars to bridge building expertise. However, in the event that something specific wasn't available in Britain it wouldn't be supplied using British aid - because the aid budget from the country that did manufacture that product or supply that service could in turn directly support such specific purchases. Consequently there would be no requirement to purchase overseas built goods or services using British aid, and the more budget a country set, the more it would itself benefit from that decision.
In this way the recipient countries would benefit from the direct receipt of all the goods or services they requested, and the British people would benefit directly from the provision of that British aid.
Tim Dockerty
5th Aug 2010 at 10:49 pm
I suggest paying nothing for any children born after the person starts collecting benefits. Also don't give larger houses to people who keep having children after collecting benefits, stop giving house or flats to 16 year olds who get pregnant.
mary benham
5th Aug 2010 at 5:39 pm
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