Public affairs and communications management

"David Cameron's speech earlier this week, designed to prepare the public for the scale of the economic challenges ahead, signalled an era of radical change. Spending cuts are predicted to affect not only 'every single person in our country' but also 'our whole way of life'.This was followed by George Osborne confirming that this summers' Spending Review will be a "complete re-evaluation of the Government's role in providing public services".

It is crucial to note that within a dramatically constrained spending environment, all departments will have to justify every budget line against key criteria: does it meet government priorities? does it have to be government funded? is it targeted to those most in need? can it be provided more cost effectively? can groups of citizens, businesses or charities provide a better service? And, importantly - can they be according to the results they generate?

Canadian style 'star chambers' will be used to scrutinise each Minister's spending plan against these criteria. A panel of 'heavy hitters' including the PM, Chancellor and senior mandarins will ruthlessly analyse each policy area.In Canada, this approach, under the Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrètien, famously turned a fiscal deficit of 9.1% of GDP in the mid-1990s into a surplus by slashing federal budgets by 20%.

How should public affairs and government relations advisers adapt to this new reality? Advice must be grounded in a rigorously analytical approach, every departmental spending decision impacting on clients must be able to be defended with an evidence-based case. This requires detailed preparation.With the Budget imminent, and Spending Review set to take place over the summer, organisations impacted by public policy must be able to convince ministers, and crucially those who advise and influence them, that they are alive to the social, political, and economic context, and are delivering real value for government and society."