Ministers are trying to “mission-wash” every item of spending in their departments, according to officials, before a spending review at which Rachel Reeves has demanded they justify every pound they receive.
Sources have told the Guardian that secretaries of state and their officials are looking for ways to link their spending to one of Labour’s main priorities – growth, net zero, crime, education, immigration and the NHS – in order to avoid sharp budget cuts this summer.
The chancellor has demanded that departments justify how all their programmes serve the government’s main priorities or risk having their funding removed as she is expected to look for cuts to unprotected departments of at least 1% a year.
Anything that negatively affects growth will not be approved, the Treasury has told departments.
Ministers will be making final spending submissions to the Treasury within weeks, with officials saying several are looking for ways to force existing schemes in line with the government’s specific missions.
One said: “There is a lot of mission-washing going on, everyone is looking for ways to show that what they’re doing actually benefits growth, or crime, or immigration.”
Another departmental source said the spending review process was similar to applying for a job. “You search for the key words in the job description, and just make sure you are using essentially the same words in the application. It’s not a particularly useful exercise.”
In some cases, the links have been far-fetched. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has billed digitising death records as a growth-boosting measure, saying it was “scrapping the need for people to queue at the local council to register the death of a loved one – getting in the way of growth.”
The Liberal Democrats said in response: “It appears there are three certainties in life. Death, taxes, and the government crowbarring growth into every press release.”
Sources have said ministers are arguing that flood defences and waste management are necessary for economic growth. Foreign Office officials are understood to be arguing that their diplomatic missions benefit UK trade, and their aid schemes help cut immigration from other countries.
The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast at the end of March is expected to significantly downgrade predictions for economic growth and wipe out the chancellor’s previous £9.9bn of headroom.
The Treasury had been lobbying the fiscal watchdog to agree to include the impact of reforms such as its overhaul of planning and welfare in predicting future growth but the long-term and hypothetical nature of those reforms means that is unlikely.
Sources close to Reeves have made clear she will not allow her fiscal rules to be broken and she will not announce further major tax rises – leaving spending cuts as her only lever.
Officials in unprotected departments – outside health and defence – have been asked to model significant budget cuts as part of the spending review process.
