Whitehall spending faces cuts of 11% in ’emergency price range’ to steadiness the nation’s books

Rachel Reeves is planning swathes of public-sector cuts to balance the nation’s books, with billions of pounds more than expected to be slashed from spending.

The Chancellor will unveil her Spring Statement next week against the backdrop of a faltering economy and limited room for manoeuvre within her fiscal rules.

She is poised to announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity, and will tell Whitehall departments to tighten their belts by as much as 11 per cent.

Today, the Treasury announced it would seize access to the spreadsheets used by other departments to ‘improve spending control’.

Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, said ministers would now be able to see in real time which programmes were over-spending or under-spending, and which are delivering.

While health, education and defence budgets are protected, other departments face billions of pounds of real-terms reductions in day-to-day spending.

Those set to be hit include the Ministry of Justice – despite the courts backlog and prison overcrowding – and the Home Office.

Several ministers are said to have raised concerns about the cuts during last week’s Cabinet meeting, including Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

Rachel Reeves during last year’s budget. The Chancellor will unveil her Spring Statement next week against the backdrop of a faltering economy and limited room for manoeuvre within her fiscal rules

Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, said ministers would now be able to see in real time which programmes were over-spending or under-spending, and which are delivering

Police officers in London (file image). The Home Office is one area expected to see cuts 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reportedly warned the squeeze could undermine the Government’s promise to reduce crime and secure the UK’s borders.

Ms Reeves reportedly needs to fill a hole in public finances of between £15billion to £20billion, although she is not expected to make any major tax changes.

A Whitehall source told The Guardian: ‘I don’t know how much longer we can go on pretending this is not austerity when the reality is we’re making cuts to vital public services such as police and prisons.’

Labour MP lan Byrne said of the speculation about cuts, tweeting: ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Austerity is a political choice.’

But Treasury minister Mr Jones claimed it was inaccurate to accuse the Government of heading towards austerity.

He added: ‘We’ve got to do this modernisation and reform agenda – we’re not… just blindly cutting spending.’

Migrants getting ready to cross the Channel from France. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reportedly warned the squeeze could undermine the Government’s promise to secure the UK’s borders

A prison in England. Those set to be hit by cuts  include the Ministry of Justice – despite the courts backlog and prison overcrowding

Departments will be expected to make savings by sacking back-office staff.

Ministers want a smaller civil service so they can target frontline resources, such as getting more teachers into schools and more police out on the streets.

But shadow chancellor Mel Stride told the Mail last night: ‘If the Chancellor is forced to cut funding for public services with her emergency budget, it will be the result of her own reckless choices at the Budget.

‘She said she would not change her spending plans and would only hold one fiscal event a year.

‘Yet more broken promises from a Labour Government completely out of their depth.’