Business department 'facing £700m budget cut'

Plans to reduce public spending by £6bn include cutting the business department budget by £700m, the BBC has learned.

The government is to set out where this year's cuts will be made this week.


But the BBC's Carole Walker says £700m will come from Lib Dem Vince Cable's department, while £500m is to come from trimming or axing public bodies.

Ministers say cuts must be made quickly to show Britain is serious about cutting the deficit but Labour says this could put the recovery at risk.

Universities

Ministers have insisted that front-line services will be protected, despite the cuts that will be made.

Chancellor George Osborne said on 17 May that plans for £6bn cuts would be announced this week, while setting a date for an "emergency Budget" for 22 June.

BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said savings at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would mean "significant cuts" to regional development agencies in the south of England.