Government Spending

Debate between Lord Blackwell and Lord De Mauley

Wednesday 26th May 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Farrington, for her kind question. It will be a principle of this Government that such matters will be for local government to decide.

[Lord Blackwell]

My Lords, will my noble friend be robust in rebutting the assumption from the opposition Benches that reductions in expenditure necessarily lead to reductions in outcomes? Does he accept that most businesses in this country that have to control their costs every year are well aware that removing waste and inefficiency is normally a way of delivering better services, by re-engineering the processes? Does he accept that, after a period of unparalleled growth in government expenditure, there is a huge target to go for in improving efficiency while improving services in this country?