Tories bid to outdo Labour property savings
The Conservative Party wants to outdo Labour on public sector property savings, its election manifesto has revealed today.
The Tory election manifesto 2010, which was launched by leader David Cameron (pictured) at Battersea Power Station this morning, says the Conservatives plan reductions in property costs “over and above any savings already planned by Labour”.
The Conservatives have pledged to follow recommendations made by advisers Sir Peter Gershon and Martin Read that show how the party might save £12bn on departmental spending in this financial year. Read said the government could move out of 10% of its office space within one year of coming to power.
As part of this pledge, the Conservatives said it would:
- enforce tighter controls of public sector recruitment
- lower the number of private consultants used
- reduce public sector property costs
The manifesto also confirms Conservative plans for sweeping reforms of the planning system, which includes abolishing “the entire bureaucratic and undemocratic tier of regional planning, including the Regional Spatial Strategies”.
Planning reforms pledged in the document – called Invitation to Join the Government of Britain – sends an austere message to voters about giving them more power. It said its focus for planning would be on:
- abolishing planning inspectors’ powers to rewrite local plans;
- encouraging local authorities to compile infrastructure plans;
- giving local planning authorities a duty to co-operate across boundaries;
- allowing neighbours to prevent ‘garden grabbing.
On planning, Cameron said in his speech today: “It is an invitation to every neighbourhood. We’ll give you the power to take control of the planning system, take over local parks and libraries and have a bigger say in how your area is run.”
The Tories also committed to introducing more transparency measures to the public sector, including forcing public bodies to to publish online the job titles of every member of staff and the salaries and expenses of senior officials.
They promised to give councillors the power to vote on large salary packages for unelected council officials.
Peter Mandelson, Labour’s election strategy chairman, said: “When the Tories say ‘we’re all in this together’, what they really mean is ‘you’re on your own’. This is not an agenda for empowerment – it’s an agenda for abandonment.”
To read the manifesto in full, click here: Conservatives Manifesto 2010
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We’re still waiting for more detail on how the Tories might make these property savings. Is it pie in the sky stuff or are Peter Gershon and Martin Read onto something that Labour have missed?
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