Using the past to inform the future: UK spending cuts in historical perspective

In 1921, the Committee on National Expenditure led by Sir Eric Geddes was seeking a reduction of £87m in supply estimates of approximately £528m (where cabinet agreed to cuts of £52m).

In the 1970s there were several instances of expansion and contraction, the latter associated with conditions to the IMF loan in 1977 where there was a 6.9% reduction in public expenditure.

More recently, upon assuming power, the Labour government remained committed to Conservative spending plans where government expenditure as a percent of GDP dropped from 45.3% in 1993 to 35.6% in 2000.

Are there lessons to be learned from these periods that can be used to inform future initiatives?

Panel

Prof. Christopher Hood, All Souls College, Oxford and ESRC Public Services Programme

Sir Nicholas Monck, former Second Permanent Secretary for Public Expenditure at HM Treasury and Permanent Secretary of the Department of Employment

Gemma Tetlow, Institute for Fiscal Studies