David Cameron and George Osborne are putting the final touches to the most brutal public spending review in several generations amid speculation that they will scrap child benefit for over-16s.
The review, to be unveiled by the Chancellor on Wednesday, will set out how the coalition Government aims to cut £83 billion from state spending to meet its goal of eliminating Britain's record public deficit within four years.
Reports in the Sunday newspapers suggested that Mr Osborne may seek to save £2 billion by stopping the child benefit currently paid to teenagers who stay in education or training between 16 and 19 and will inflict cuts on social housing, the RAF, legal aid and the prison system.
But Whitehall insiders played down claims that Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will be required to sell off assets worth £845 million, including prisons.
A leaked document obtained by The Observer suggested the Ministry of Justice would be one of the biggest losers of the review, forfeiting 30% of its £9 billion budget and facing cuts of £2.1 billion in legal aid, £198 million from civil and family courts and £93 million from criminal cases. But a source close to Mr Clarke said that the document was a month old and did not reflect the final settlement reached with the Treasury.
Treasury sources declined to discuss suggestions of further cuts to child benefit, following Mr Osborne's announcement earlier this month that it is to be withdrawn from parents paying higher-rate tax.
Reports suggested that radical changes could be introduced to the social housing system, ending the right to a council home for life in favour of more cost-effective shorter tenancies.
And the Department for Work and Pensions announced a new crackdown on benefit and tax credit fraud, intended to claw back some of the estimated £1.5 billion lost each year to welfare cheats.
Pressure on spending departments has been increased in the final days before the Comprehensive Spending Review by political decisions to limit the pain in the defence and education budgets. Only the NHS and international aid budgets have been protected, so additional savings have had to be found elsewhere in Whitehall.
Labour will unveil its own plans for the economy on Monday, setting out a £7 billion "push for growth" funded largely by levies on the banks. Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson will accuse the coalition Government of taking a "huge gamble with growth and jobs" by concentrating on deficit reduction to the exclusion of economic stimulus.
David Cameron and George Osborne are putting the final touches to the most brutal public spending review in several generations amid speculation that they will scrap child benefit for over-16s.
The review, to be unveiled by the Chancellor on Wednesday, will set out how the coalition Government aims to cut £83 billion from state spending to meet its goal of eliminating Britain's record public deficit within four years.
Reports in the Sunday newspapers suggested that Mr Osborne may seek to save £2 billion by stopping the child benefit currently paid to teenagers who stay in education or training between 16 and 19 and will inflict cuts on social housing, the RAF, legal aid and the prison system.
But Whitehall insiders played down claims that Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will be required to sell off assets worth £845 million, including prisons.
A leaked document obtained by The Observer suggested the Ministry of Justice would be one of the biggest losers of the review, forfeiting 30% of its £9 billion budget and facing cuts of £2.1 billion in legal aid, £198 million from civil and family courts and £93 million from criminal cases. But a source close to Mr Clarke said that the document was a month old and did not reflect the final settlement reached with the Treasury.
Treasury sources declined to discuss suggestions of further cuts to child benefit, following Mr Osborne's announcement earlier this month that it is to be withdrawn from parents paying higher-rate tax.
Reports suggested that radical changes could be introduced to the social housing system, ending the right to a council home for life in favour of more cost-effective shorter tenancies.
And the Department for Work and Pensions announced a new crackdown on benefit and tax credit fraud, intended to claw back some of the estimated £1.5 billion lost each year to welfare cheats.
Pressure on spending departments has been increased in the final days before the Comprehensive Spending Review by political decisions to limit the pain in the defence and education budgets. Only the NHS and international aid budgets have been protected, so additional savings have had to be found elsewhere in Whitehall.
Labour will unveil its own plans for the economy on Monday, setting out a £7 billion "push for growth" funded largely by levies on the banks. Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson will accuse the coalition Government of taking a "huge gamble with growth and jobs" by concentrating on deficit reduction to the exclusion of economic stimulus.