Whitehall cost-cutting on civil servants and pensions saves £10bn

The Government saved £10 billion last year by cutting the number of civil servants, reforming public sector pension and selling off property, the Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude will announce today.

Savings from cost cutting and efficiencies almost doubled from £5.5 billion in 2011/11 as part of the Government’s programme to cut costs across Whitehall.

Ministers said the saving were the equivalent to almost £600 for each working household across Britain and enough to fund three million primary school places or the building of 500 new secondary schools.

The figures, which will be formally released today, will be accompanied with a full break-down the Cabinet Office said which would allow journalists and academics to scrutinise them.