Chancellor reveals government spending targets

Delivered earlier today by the chancellor George Osborne, the CSR revealed spending targets across all government departments between now and 2014/15.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), for example, will reduce resource spend by 18 per cent and the department’s admin budget will drop by 33 per cent, while overall capital spend will increase by 41 per cent.

Similarly, the resource spend at the department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Transport (DfT) will be reduced by 25 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

Capital spending at DfT is to be reduced by 11 per cent in real terms while its admin budget will be reduced by 33 per cent.

It isn’t known yet how cuts in these departments will be made but the chancellor, speaking in Parliament, stressed that science and innovation are key to maintaining growth.

Highlights from the DfT include £14bn funding over the spending review period to Network Rail to support maintenance and investment, including major improvements to the East Coast Mainline, station upgrades at Birmingham New Street and network improvements in Yorkshire.