Baume: ‘It’s not a decision that’s taken very often’
Civil service chiefs lodged formal protests at spending decisions by Labour ministers in the dying months of their rule, the BBC has been told.
It culminated in the "nuclear option" of demanding written instructions from their political masters, union leader Jonathan Baume said.
There was dismay at Labour’s use of public finances, he added.
Ex-ministers have previously dismissed claims of excessive spending as "spin" by the coalition government.
The government has ordered a review of all spending commitments and pilot projects signed off by Labour ministers since the start of the year.
‘Not the right thing’
Mr Baume, leader of the First Division Association, told 5 live’s chief political correspondent John Pienaar: "When a permanent secretary asks for their letter of direction from a minister, it is because they feel that a serious decision is being taken, which they feel is not right.
"It’s not a decision that is taken very often to ask for such a letter of direction, which is why it is regarded something of a nuclear option. So when it happens it tends to be a big spending decision, where the civil service believes this is not the right thing to do."
The instructions – formally titled "letters of direction" – have been sent to the Treasury, and will be sent on to the cross-party Commons public accounts committee, which evaluates public spending for propriety and value for money.
On Monday, Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws told BBC Two’s Newsnight: "I think we’re very concerned indeed that over the last few months of this government there were a lot of spending commitments that were made and some of those may not represent good value for money."
He said that in some cases the decisions "were made against accounting officer advice".
Prime Minister David Cameron has said his ministers have found examples of "crazy" spending, including paying out bonuses to three-quarters of all senior civil servants.
In response, former Chancellor Alistair Darling accused the new coalition government of "playing the oldest trick on the book" by blaming its predecessor for the state of the economy.
On Monday, it emerged that Liam Byrne, Mr Laws’ predecessor, had left him a one-sentence letter, saying: "I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left."
Mr Byrne later told the BBC that this "a phrase that chief secretaries have to get used to using".
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