unicornnews: Tories pledge government comms cuts

As the election draws ever closer the Conservatives have issued a dossier of government “waste and excess”, presumably to pre-empt the spending cuts they are likely to make if they form the new government this weekend.

The bad news for those in government PR is that £564 million spent on “external communications and marketing” is among the expenditure which the Tories believe is a waste of tax payers’ money. Of course Cameron’s team is keen to assure voters that his government would be able to bring government spending under control, but without making major cuts to front line public services like health and education.

According to PR Week, the Tories’ dossier includes a list of the top ten “spin spenders” in government, with the Home Office at the top of the list. According to the Tories, officials in that government department “burned through £73m rather than policing the streets”. The dossier concludes that the Tories would “cut back spending on government spin and advertising and on unnecessary consultants”.

Posted Tuesday May 4 2010 by Chris Cooke

Related categories: Political Communications