Labour amends website in policy 'hijacking' row

Labour has been forced to rewrite part of its website under pressure from the cabinet secretary over accusations it "hijacked" government policy to ­promote the party. The party radically changed references to Backing Young Britain, the jobs for under-25s policy, on its website after Gus O'Donnell cited civil service rules that stop political parties using government programmes to promote themselves. It comes amid growing consternation in Whitehall about alleged improper use of government work and resources in the run-up to the election after it emerged that government spending on advertising had leapt by 40% to £253m in the past year. The Department of Health's budget doubled to £66m in that period while the schools department spent £17.9m, up 178% in a year, according to figures obtained through freedom of information requests by the BBC. Civil service sources said some permanent secretaries had written to staff to warn them to abide by the ethos of the civil service code, which bars the use of government resources for electioneering. The row over the Labour party's use of Backing Young Britain on its website was raised by the shadow cabinet minister Francis Maude. The party changed the references to Backing Young Britain to make it clear it is a government policy. In a letter to Maude, O'Donnell said: "Backing Young Britain is a government initiative and it is important that references by other ­organisations make this clear. You drew my attention to the ­coverage of the initiative on the Labour party website … "The references there have now been amended to make clear this is a government initiative." The Cabinet Office said that the increased advertising budget had offered value for money, with the lowest rates of smoking and road deaths ever.