The Guardian has seen a document which reveals ministers are to be presented with a package for £130m of immediate cuts with radical options for another £140m of savings. This is in addition to a 5% year-on-year cuts on administrative costs. Also The ministry plans staff redundancies and has asked the Cabinet Office to extend severance pay deals to its agencies. One of the agencys facing cuts is the Waste and Resources Action Programme which takes the lead in encouraging industry and consumers to recycle waste - a key part of the government's programme to phase out landfill sites which it must do to avoid future fines by the EU. The agency, which has a £70m turnover, will have to live with no cash increases. These cuts are being drawn up in the week the government published its climate change bill, saying it was the first in the world to lay down legally binding carbon. Details of the cuts have emerged just as the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is due to publish its latest report.

Synopsis of a Guardian article today. For full text