What Government expenditure would you cut do you think?

[Wafflefudge]

Having seen quite a few posts recently which seem to be focused on disability spending being unaffordable and needing to be cut it has prompted me to think about what could actually be cut without causing issues/ knock ons that would be more costly long term.
I think perhaps for people who aren't disabled or with disabled children they see this as an easy cut. But we can of course all think of cuts that wouldn't directly or immediately affect us.
I personally dont think any cuts are particularly easy or straightforward though.
Off the top of my head I'd maybe cut libraries as they've put such short hours in place that they are barely useable anyway. Or perhaps maximise making money from them. But recognise this would be a drop in the ocean of public expenditure.
Id be interested in others opinions on where cuts might work. I'm sure answers will vary considerably depending on personal circumstances

I would scrap all ODA (Official Development Assistance), minus Ukraine - given the National Security implications if Ukraine is taken by Russia).

India does NOT need £46million in ODA. They have a Space Programme ffs. Pakistan does not need £58million in ODA - they have nuclear weapons. If their Government is to corrupt or crap to properly care for their people and instead spend their money on Space or Nukes that is their call.

If ODA actually worked, then countries like Syria would not still be in the state they are in. We have given £3.8 billion to Syria so far and anyone who works or has worked in the region can tell you it has done nothing - and countries like the US and France and Germany have given twice what we have. And guess what? Nothing has changed. You might as well set the money on fire for all the good it does.

We can't be the healthcare service to the world whilst our own is collapsing.

Put outcomes first for elderly care in the NHS. Don't offer repeated scans or tests to patients who are just too ill/old to be treated. I have a elderly relative with chronic COPD, she is repeatedly being called for scans and tests on her other ailments. She recently had her yearly scan for osteoporosis, she goes to see if it has got worse. It has, but there is no treatment for her. She had a heart operation several years ago, she has scans to check the size of a heart valve. Whatever the result, the NHS cannot operate due to her chronic COPD. She's in her late 80s and her life is repeated doctors, hospital and clinic visits.

Stop spending paper letters to anybody under 60. NHS but not only. Exceptions for relevant disabilities.

Tax bin bags used for household waste - win win as it is also good for the environment. They have this system in Switzerland since at least the 90s.

Stop providing stationary for free in schools, except for Pupil Premium students. School could bulk buy and then sell to parents, this would ensure children have the correct material. Same as above, works like this in France since at least the 90s.

Bill £1 per GP appointment except for people
on UC. Again, works fine in other countries.

Mandatory number plate for bikes and any vehicle using the roads and use existing cameras to detect infractions (going through red lights for ex).

My 88 yr old MIL who has dementia has been sent for numerous scans recently to rule out cancer, from her doctor referring her on. An unnecessary waste of money for someone her age with declining mental health, who wouldn't cope with an operation or chemo if they did find anything.

Borrow money in the short term to buy and build high quality social housing in order to massively cut the amount of housing benefit going to private landlords

Then make child maintenance payments

A/. Enforceable
B/ realistic
C/. Count for income in all areas, even when not court ordered

I work in IT and we work for a large government department. It's very hard to find an actual civil servant. When we dig into it everybody on the customer side is either a contractor or from another outsourcer.

There have been people we've worked with for years who we discover aren't civil servants at all. So when people tell me there's no way to reduce "waste" in the civil service i take it with an extreme pinch of salt. Paying contractor rates for years versus increasing staff pay scales and paying people appropriately would result in massive savings all round.

Free prescriptions kick in at 60 - should at least be tied into the state pension age. There are already exceptions for low income and certain conditions plus you can buy the pre payment certificate if you need lots of medication.

I wouldn't cut as such but I'd take a good long look at how money was being spent and how it could be redistributed. I'd also:

Tax extreme wealth.

Make sure huge companies such as Amazon pay the correct amount of tax.

MP's expenses need an overhaul. And that subsidized canteen. And the lords.

The royals could go.

Bill £1 per GP appointment except for people on UC. Again, works fine in other countries.

I think this proposition would cost more to administer than the money it would generate.

So many things need to be overhauled, not cut as such. I would take a long hard look at how the relationship between public and privatised services really works.

I would look at ways for the state to both build and repossess homes and make a real effort to massively increase social housing, although I appreciate it would be very difficult to do. I would punitively tax second homes to support communities adversely affected and encourage second home owners to sell, and consider how to nudge people to downsize.

I’d look at ways to charge people a lot more for having massive cars.

Regulate the house building industries and enforce use of things like solar panels on new housing.

I would let the water companies fail, prosecute those who have run the companies into the ground and take them back into public ownership. Regulate the living daylights out of the railway companies.

Simplify the benefits system as much as humanly possible (almost a universal basic income scenario). Consider how some kind of nationalised jobs might work to support people to gain employment experience while doing something useful, instead of paying people to spend all their time either under stress looking for work or avoiding doing so. I would consider paying child maintenance directly as a benefit and taking it from the wages or benefits of the payer.

Consider how some jobs that are desperately needed but low status, like care workers, can have their status raised and how this could support others in society, and also how the state could support families to allow both parents to work if they are being held back by childcare costs. Look at ways to support women’s work and careers as longer term this will be good for society.

I would make it so that nobody got free prescriptions or bus travel but everyone pays a flat fee every time for the bus and everyone who’s currently eligible for free prescriptions pays a small fee like £2 or so. (I don’t think this would be very popular though).

Bring in dog licences and make them fairly expensive (not a vote winner either)

Look at ways to charge for some NHS treatment or adopt a kind of insurance system, but not with a view to actually covering costs - however I would consider publishing the costs of procedures and drugs so people understand these better. Look at how to balance salaries v benefits in the NHS and across the public sector, and how to retain experienced staff.

Put punitive taxes on food ingredients that have been proved to be either unequivocally unhealthy or environmentally damaging. This would be a token gesture to start with but should have a nudging effect and halt the downward spiral of cheaper and cheaper ingredients being used.

Sadly this would probably all cost money, at least to start with, but the very fact that ‘libraries’ is one of the first answers on the thread tells us there’s not much fat to trim!

Scrap ofsted
Close libraries
Review motobility to ensure only those who need have it
Stop paying peoples transport costs when they are released from custody
Anyone sent to prison should loose their council house
If you sub let your council house as air b and b you should loose it

Stop companies being able to build debts and wind up the company and starting a new one from fresh- the debt should follow
If you cause damage to social housing you should be charged with the repair
If you commit asb you should loose your council house
Charge less for public transport that is efficient and works, fund it by advertising space, retail in stations etc
All government buildings to have solar
Pay for solar panels on peoples houses and take the excess

Scrap care in the community for certain people, it's not safe and it doesn't work, look into other options
You break the law you don't get benefits

When people don't pay for things they stop valuing it - if you had a deposit in your medical appointment you would not miss it

Not really true.

A lot of the "stability" and lack of moving is at junior non-commisioned level and depends on service.
Officers however move every 16-18 months and for the most part deploy in between that.

Requirements and criteria to meet CEA are pretty strict.

If ODA actually worked, then countries like Syria would not still be in the state they are in. We have given £3.8 billion to Syria so far and anyone who works or has worked in the region can tell you it has done nothing - and countries like the US and France and Germany have given twice what we have. And guess what? Nothing has changed. You might as well set the money on fire for all the good it does

Ha most of the money given to Syria, hasn't been given to them at all, it goes to refugee camps, most of which are outside Syria, watch the number of migrants surge coming into Europe if we stopped this funding.

Who says it has done nothing? & £3.8billion over a decade isn't going to save the UK economy.

Back to the OP, i'd start taking outsourced services in Healthcare and local Govt taken back in house.
ATM we are giving 'billions to large multinational companies to run MH, Physio and OT services in the community, all use former NHS staff, all on exactly the same T&Cs as NHS but now we have to pay for all the back office functions and of course director pay.

Our local community services company of choice is HQ'd in Houston USA.

Why is Council road mtce outsourced? what benefit is it for anyone other than for a private company that makes a profit by cutting corners.

I like all of these.

I would also add a tax on all tourists (not much, £20 or so) to cover any potential NHS use during their stay.

No housing expenses for MPs based outside London. Perhaps a council-style block of flats within an easy commute of Westminster for all MPs to use? But really crack down on all the unnecessary expenses. I can't remember how much BoJo spent on wallpaper while living in No.10, but I remember being perfectly disgusted that he was allowed to use taxpayers money on something so frivolous while demonising ordinary people.

Close all loopholes for the tax dodging billionaires. Make them watertight.

Yup

Re enter Europe!

Ha most of the money given to Syria, hasn't been given to them at all, it goes to refugee camps, most of which are outside Syria, watch the number of migrants surge coming into Europe if we stopped this funding.

Errr unless you work in the FCDO, I don't think you can say that. Only Civil Servants really know where the money has gone given how sensitive ODA funding is to administer...

I would take various parts of the NHS and consider whether it needs a fully trained doctor or dentist to complete it. For example the blood centres work really well. Couldn’t we also do that for something like small/simple fillings? Surely that’s something a dental nurse could do after some short training? My gestational diabetes check was ridiculous. The midwife saw only me during the 2 hours that I had to wait around - surely that could have been completed by a group of mums to be at the same time? (Maybe even treated as an antenatal social/ class).

To be honest doing those things in house tends to cost a lot more. The public sector is very inefficient.

id cut all unnecessary DEI spending- in fact all non core services. The government and councils need to focus on getting the basics right.

You realise many professional jobs offer this, plus significantly more pay than mps right?

If you reduce mp pay and benefits (and let’s not forget its not a secure job!) you won’t have anyone with any actual leadership talent applying.

Shall i be an Mp or junior management in a bank….. erm I’ll take the bank on 120k ta.

The pay is half the reason you end up with Eton idiots doing it (they have family money so don’t need the hobby cash).

in my opinion it is lowly pay for the insecure stressful job. AND let’s not forget that there are scores employed that are not mps living on much less.

I would have stamp duty paid by the seller not buyer, so no need for first time buyer exemptions.
I would have a tax on larger and high performance cars. Perhaps via PCP.
I would have all the age related benefits other than state pension start later than 67 or 68, perhaps at 70.
I would scrap any Trident replacement.
I would reduce some of the VAT exemptions, so that they are for necessary things not luxury items as some are by the broad brush approach.
I would reduce the number of government buildings and sell off or convert into housing. Chevening, Chequers and some of the royal properties being among them.

If they’ve built a life here, have family and friends, seems a bit greedy to move and leave all of the things money can’t buy, juys so you can keep you’re extra millions all to yourself…. I don’t think it’s quite as simple as upping sticks!