LONDON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- As many as 30,000 British bureaucrats reportedly will be heading out of London to less expensive office space.
Three separate reviews set up by Chancellor Gordon Brown uncovered significant duplication, waste and red tape, so Brown announced he intends to sell off some prime buildings in central London and halve office rental costs by relocating many civil servants, the London Independent reported Tuesday.
Brown is convinced there is an opportunity to save at least $5 billion a year by ending the centralized traditions and ensuring departments are run more like private companies, the newspaper said.
Brown will soon announce an increase in government borrowing for this year -- above the $47 billion he estimated in his April budget -- with critics predicting it will exceed $52 billion. But he will argue Britain has weathered the global downturn better than most of its rivals and that the economy will grow in line with his budget estimate of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent.
