London - An alliance of plastics groups is lobbying the UK Chancellor George Osborne, urging the maintenance of public sector capital spending on infrastructure projects at not less than 2.25 percent GDP, so that the UK's competitiveness is not impaired.
It believes that building and repair of public sector housing should be a priority with the large increase in population forecast.
The alliance also called for consolidation of the national manufacturing export effort through UKTI (the government department for trade and industry).
At the same time the alliance urged a 10 percent cut in the public sector workforce by 2015/16 together with a public sector pay freeze for two years.
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The group, coordinated by the British Plastics Federation, reminded the Chancellor that the National Audit Office found that the public sector spent £2800 million on expensive management consultancy firms.
Peter Davis, director-general of the BPF said in a press statement, "Many of the projects managed by consultancies could be more cost-effectively handled by trade associations which are the expert bodies for their sectors and to whom the consultancies have frequent recourse for information. It would be better value if government used the trade associations in the first place."
The BPF-coordinated grouping wrote to Osborne ahead of the coalition government's comprehensive spending review on 20 Oct which will determine fixed spending budgets over several years for each government department.
The alliance includes the British Rubber & Polyurethane Products Association (BRPPA).
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