Civil Service cuts save £5 billion

Tens of thousands of Civil Service job cuts have helped the Government save £5 billion in the past 12 months, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude said.

As well as axing 43,000 jobs from the public payroll, ministers have clamped down on travel expenses and agreed better deals with contractors for Whitehall departments.

Mr Maude said the Government expected the savings since last April to hit £5 billion next month - on top of the £3.75 billion saved last year.

He added: "It was never our goal just to save money in year one and move on. There can and will be no turning back in the ongoing hunt to root out waste in Whitehall and cut costs to protect frontline services.

"Our new, business-like approach and steely determination to get value for taxpayers' money means we now expect to make £5 billion in cash savings by the time this financial year is out."

Mr Maude said renegotiating or scrapping expensive property leases had saved £130 million, with the Government's estate being slashed by 416,597sqm (4,484,212sq ft) - equivalent to 58 Wembley Stadium pitches.

Another £1.1 billion was cut from spending on consultants and agency staff and £140 million from computer and technology budgets.

Ministers have been criticised for adding to dole queues by axing workers across Government, with public sector staff taking part in a mass strike in protest over cuts and changes to pensions last November.

But Mr Maude defended the policy saying: "We always knew that change on this scale would not always be easy or popular, but it was necessary and I believe today's figures will show once and for all that the sceptics were wrong."

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "The Civil Service, at 444,000, is at its lowest level since the Second World War. This has been achieved through a combination of people leaving and not being replaced and those taking redundancy."