Public sector workers face further job cuts in the struggle to reduce the cost of government, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, has said.
The Treasury wants to save £5bn by encouraging efficiency in Whitehall departments, including merging back-office functions and cutting spending on office supplies by improving procurement. According to Alexander, this would remove "waste in Whitehall and the wider public sector, of which there is still a considerable amount".
Such efficiency would lead to job cuts, he told the Daily Telegraph.
"Further spending reductions will also have an effect on the workforce," he said. As long as the quality of services did not change, there was no reason not to sack some more of the people now providing them.
"What I want to make sure is that we find savings in a way that maintains the quality of services that citizens receive. As you move more services online, that means existing channels are not needed, or needed to a much lesser extent, and that means you don't need to employ as many people in those areas."
Alexander, who is to lead discussions on the next spending review to agree expenditure in government departments in 2015-16, said that only the NHS, schools and international development would be protected from the cuts. This raises the possibility that the police and armed forces could face further cuts.
Alexander also said that depriving richer pensioners of the winter fuel allowance remained a possibility for the next parliament.
"There is a case for looking at whether benefits like winter fuel allowance go to multimillionaire pensioners. As we look to how we deal with the continuing financial problems over a number of years, that is a question that is perfectly reasonable to discuss. That is not necessarily within the context of a limit, that is just a policy choice," he said.
Alexander admitted that economic growth had been disappointing, but blamed the eurozone crisis and weakness in the banking sector among other reasons, rather than ministers.
Official figures published this week showed that borrowing reached £121bn last year, and would remain at a similar level this year and next, rather than being significantly reduced.
Asked about whether he and the government had questioned the success of its spending cuts and tax rises, Alexander said: "If you're asking me have we reflected on the evidence and talked to our economists and asked what are the factors influencing us, what's changed in our economy, then yes, of course I have". But "that has just reinforced my view that the strategy we have embarked upon is the right one for the country".