In 2015, the TaxPayers’ Alliance released the landmark report, The Spending Plan, which set out comprehensive proposals for savings and reforms that would reduce public spending by 2020 to 35.2 per cent of GDP.
The proposals set out in The Spending Plan eliminates wasteful and unnecessary programmes and departments in Whitehall. They would mean lower taxes for households, the debt burden reduced for future generations, and economic growth which would bring prosperity to all. What is more, they would ensured that healthcare and education would still be free for all, citizens protected, and a robust justice system to uphold the rule of law. Generous welfare provision for those who needed it most would still have been available.
The report proposes the following savings, among others:
- Abolish BIS, DECC and DCMS, saving £7,465 million
- Abolish the pensions 'triple lock' and link the state pension to CPI, saving £6,800 million
- Saving £4,385 million by cutting Scotland's grant to match its relative prosperity compared to Wales
- Freeze benefits for two years, then uprate with inflation, saving £1,962 million
- Scrapping national pay bargaining in the public sector, saving £5,800 million
- Means test Winter Fuel Payments (£1,443 million) and target free bus passes at those who really need them (£560 million)
The Spending Plan also lists the further changes that would bring spending down to 31.7 per cent of GDP - the level recommended in The Single Income Tax, the final report of the 2020 Tax Commission.