George Osborne
Chancellor George Osborne is seeking a further £11.5bn in spending cuts to government departments (Reuters)

UK Chancellor George Osborne said he has no more plans to cut the country's welfare budget under his austerity regime at the Treasury, as government departments face a further £11.5bn slash to their spending.

Osborne said he has negotiated cuts of between 8-10% to seven government departments, including energy, justice and communities, as he squeezes the pips harder to erase Britain's budget deficit in its public finances.

"We've got to make sure that Whitehall is not let off the hook," said Osborne on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, adding that he is looking for "better value for money out of the machine of government" in is upcoming annual spending review.

He said he is working from the "central assumption" that the latest spending cuts will come from Whitehall departments, not the welfare budget, which has already had billions shaved off of it.

Poor households in Britain, which have relied on welfare payments to supplement their income, have faced a torrent of spending cuts since the coalition government took power in May 2010.

Most recently has been the so-called "bedroom tax", a reduction in housing benefit for those with more bedrooms than they need.

Osborne has also held the annual rise in benefits to below inflation - an increase of 1% versus inflation of 2.4% - meaning a real terms cut in income for recipients.

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