Iain Duncan Smith pours cold water on £4bn more welfare cuts

Clash: Iain Duncan Smith is fighting against the Chancellor over cuts to his department
12 April 2012

Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith today clashed with George Osborne over plans for an extra £4 billion of welfare cuts.

The Chancellor is seeking further savings from the country's huge welfare bill.

But asked today about the £4 billion figure, the Work and Pensions Secretary said: "I simply don't recognise that figure at all. I have made no commitment of savings in the spending round yet. That's a matter of discussion between myself, the Treasury and Downing Street."

His defiant stance came just days after Mr Osborne said in a BBC interview that billions more in savings in welfare spending would be announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review next month. The BBC reported that the cuts would amount to £4 billion.

Digging in against Treasury attempts to water down his plans for radical reforms, Mr Duncan Smith signalled his determination to introduce a new universal credit to replace many existing benefits.

In addition, he warned that both Labour and Conservative governments which had attempted to "press down from the top" on the welfare bill had achieved only "temporary" cuts. He also pointed the finger at the Treasury for the huge amount of fraud and error in the tax credit system, arguing that his department had been far better at tackling the losses.

Mr Duncan Smith sought to play down talk of a "turf war" between the Treasury and his department.

But he also made clear his resolve not to ditch his welfare overhaul, over which he has already threatened to quit.

"We have to make savings, that's clear," he told the Commons work and pensions committee. "But we will better make savings by reforming the system."

The Treasury is believed to have raised concerns over the set-up costs of a universal benefit, said to run into several billions. But Mr Duncan Smith said the costs of the changes had come down.

The Chancellor has already announced £11 billion of cuts from the welfare bill, which totals nearly £200 billion a year.

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