The new coalition government announces £6bn of spending cuts to help cut the budget deficit.

The new UK coalition government has announced plans to save more than £6 billion, but says frontline services will not be compromised.

The plans to cut £6.2bn of government spending this financial year comes ahead of the emergency budget which the new Chancellor, George Osborne, has scheduled for the 22 June 2010.

Although many government departments will be seeing an axe wielded on their spending, the Chancellor was quick to point out that the savings will help to “improve Britain’s growth potential and create a fairer society, by reinvesting in further education, apprenticeships and social housing.”

The UK government currently spends more on debt interest than is spent on defence, on transport or on the police, and in George Osborne’s opening speech he conceded that the UK has one of the biggest budget deficits in Europe – £156bn – a worrying notion for many given the recent events in Greece as its economy struggles to cope.

“But I want people to know in the years ahead that we do this not for its own sake but in order to improve the quality of people’s lives and build a better economic future. We inherited an economic mess, but we can come out of it stronger,” added the Chancellor.

Together with Chief Secretary, David Laws, Mr Osborne laid out plans to ensure the UK has a brighter future by slashing budgets across the board, yet at the same time protecting the quality of frontline services.

Highlights of the plan included saving £600 million from cutting the cost of quangos; at least £120m from a recruitment freeze across the civil service for the rest of 2010/11; £95m through savings in IT spending; and £1.15bn savings in discretionary areas like consultancy and travel costs – first-class travel and chauffeur driven cars look set to be a thing of the past.

Richard Lambert, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), supported plans: “The measures announced by the Chancellor, including departmental spending cuts and a civil service recruitment freeze, are painful but necessary steps to demonstrate the UK’s seriousness about tackling the deficit. Just as private sector firms had to take strong action to cut costs during the recession, so too must the public sector.”

However, British unions have condemned today’s announcements.

Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary, said: “This is the first cut of the axe, but it signals that there will be more to come from the emergency budget and the comprehensive spending review. The new Government is completely ignoring the human impact of these cuts.

“Despite high levels of unemployment, the Government is happy to add tens of thousands more workers to the dole queue, putting the recovery at risk. Public spending cuts will hit small businesses, devastate families, and the most vulnerable in our society will suffer.”

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said that the UK economy is not ready for these type of cuts: “Taking any money out of the economy at the moment is dangerous as there is a real risk of a double dip recession, which will only damage the state of the public finances further.

“Politicians always claim spending cuts will fall on backroom administration but the frontline cannot function without proper support. Making doctors, nurses and teachers do the necessary paperwork once done by support staff is bound to hit services.”

Other cuts sure to be unpopular with the British public include the abolition of the Child Trust Fund, an initiative introduced by the Labour government in 2002 to help promote savings for children. From 1 August 2010 child payments will be reduced from £250 to £50 for better-off families, and £500 to £100 for poorer families, with a stop on all payments on 1 January 2011.