RUSHES: Rachel Reeves interview

Rachel Reeves interview; ENGLAND: London: Westminster Millbank:INT Rachel Reeves MP (Shadow Chancellor) interview SOT 1/3Q - is 'office for value for money' a fiscal gimmickA - no, 'office for value for money' is about dealing with a very serious problem in government today / wasted schemes Q - how big will it be, how much will it costA - this is about bringing together people who already are supposed to be doing this sort of stuff in the Treasury.../ get a grip on spending / getting value for money before the money is spentQ - introduce delayA - aim is not to introduce delay / aim is to root out wasteQ - sounds like a whole layer of bureaucracy for all spending decisions, hit squad that prevents before the money is spent A - it wouldn't review everything / doing it properly / can't afford anymore wasteQ - on your list of examples more than half is Covid, that's not going to happen againA - whole point of this Covid inquiry that's supposed to be happening is to learn lessons for future / £8bn on PPE that's past it's sell by date, not NHS standards / £7bn in schemes that was supposed to help businesses - schoolboy errors were made in design of these schemes, got to learn those lessons