Public spending to hit £340bn by 2007-08 - Brown

In the earliest stage of his public spending review, Brown said the UK is now spending far less on its benefits and services than other services across the European public sector. Spending will increase by 4.2% on average over the next four years thanks to a mixture of efficiency and additional allocated funds, argues Brown, to increase spending from £279bn next year, to £301bn in 05/06, then £324bn in 06/07 and £340bn in 07/08. Brown also points out housing has seen one of the lowest periods of house building through the 1990s, as only 200,000 houses were built during that decade. ...