![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/jeremy-hunt-set-to-wage-war-on-government-waste/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TELEMMGLPICT000314972170_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqIypTgQB59W6LyPylQ-cIk5Cmk_rzL99iRwZ1mR8muBs.jpeg&description=The Treasury and Downing Street will this week attempt to convince rebel MPs that departmental spending cuts represent a return to small-state Conservatism following years of high spending on the pandemic response. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Hunt warned that the cost of Liz Truss's energy bills package was equivalent to "an entire second NHS" and hinted the average energy bill could rise by £600 as he reduces universal support for bill payers. The tapering of support is likely to come alongside more targeted measures for pensioners and other vulnerable groups, but the newspaper said average bills could rise to between £2,800 and £3,100 from April. Comparison to the Tory rebellion over the 'pasty tax' may worry Mr Sunak, after his predecessor Mr Osborne was forced to U-turn on uprating VAT on hot takeaway food after opposition from Tory MPs, some of whom represented Cornish constituencies. We must take difficult decisions, cut waste and make government more efficient When Vladimir Putin launched his brutal and illegal war on the brave people of Ukraine, Europe stood firmly against him. But with so many European countries dependent on Russian gas, he weaponised it and inflicted more suffering by restricting supply and hiking up prices, writes John Glen, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The numbers are stark. We used to spend £40 billion on our energy and we are now expecting to spend £190 billion – more than the entire NHS budget for this year. Rising energy prices are pushing up inflation, plaguing economies across Europe. Our country can be proud of the leading role we've played in supporting the Ukrainian people. Helping turn the tide on the Russian advance, we've provided thousands of anti-tank weapons, armoured vehicles and non-lethal military equipment, while issuing nearly 200,000 visas to Ukrainians thanks to compassionate members of the public generously opening their homes to those fleeing war. But I can see the damage that Putin's rising pric){kind=link}
The Chancellor and his deputy, John Glen, have drafted in Lord Maude to suggest where ministers can cut departmental budgets
Jeremy Hunt is to launch a war on government waste as he seeks to stave off mounting Tory opposition to his programme of tax hikes.
John Glen, his deputy in the Treasury, said it was “outrageous” that taxpayers’ money was being “soaked up by the system when it could be put towards areas that really need it”.
The pair have drafted in Lord Maude, who conducted an efficiency review of the civil service for David Cameron in 2012, to suggest where ministers can cut departmental budgets further without worsening the crisis in the health service or scrapping financial support for households dealing with soaring bills.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Glen says that ministers will restrict government spending in an effort to avoid “throwing fuel on the fire” of inflation.