London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Simon Case, the chair of the civil service, has supported the government’s figures indicating that a £22bn shortfall was exited by the previous Conservative administration.
The cabinet secretary stated the Tories’ failure to hold regular spending reviews had contributed to the financial uncertainty. Case estimated in a letter to Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, who had questioned the claims of a £22bn financial hole presented at the end of July by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, expressing it brought the civil service into disrepute. Hunt had argued that the £22bn claim appeared to be rejected by government spending estimates signed off just days beforehand.
How Has Simon Case Justified the £22bn Shortfall Claim Against the Conservative Administration?
The letter later issued in full by Hunt, expressed the discrepancy could be defined by a rushed parliamentary timetable. Case stated he was satisfied that all civil service accounting officers had worked correctly in the estimates they had presented established on the assurances of ministers.
Case said: “I would also mention that the sizeable in-year changes to spending plans in recent years have resulted from the absence of a new spending consideration to replan departmental budgets in the face of powerful pressures which have materialised since budgets were set in 2021…
“By the time the election was called, we were in the absolute year of the 2021 spending review period. The most effective method to transparently identify, quantify and manage those pressures would have been to conduct a prompt spending review.”
Case also stated that “unlike previous years” the current government “has outlined to parliament the pressures that it is having to handle down and the actions it is taking to do so”.
What Are the Political and Financial Implications of the £22bn Shortfall Dispute?
Hunt replied to the letter by saying it presented more questions than it answered. “Far from exonerating the government, this letter raises more profound questions for them,” he said. “If civil servants signed off estimates to parliament that they knew were false, it is a breach of the civil service code irrespective of any decision by the last government to hold a spending review.
“But if those assessments were not false – and the cabinet secretary states accounting officers conducted appropriately – then Labour’s claim of a £22bn ‘black hole’ is revealed as bogus. In reality, it is a political device to explain tax grades– a political choice the government made long before the election.”