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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
