Quote: Chancellor George Osborne has outlined plans for £6.2bn in spending cuts, saying "urgent action" was necessary to address the budget deficit.
He said there would be a civil service recruitment freeze, as well as cuts to IT programmes, property and quangos.
Child Trust Funds would be axed by January but funding for schools and Sure Start would be protected.
Shadow Chancellor Alistair Darling said Mr Osborne must "come clean" on the details and how many jobs were at risk.
Of the £6.2bn of cuts identified, £500m is to be reinvested in further education, apprenticeships and social housing, leaving a net spending cut of £5.7m.
The savings, according to the government, will break down as:
* £1.15bn in "discretionary areas" like consultancy and travel costs, £95m through savings in IT spending, £1.7bn through delaying/stopping contracts and projects and renegotiating with suppliers
* There will be £170m from reducing property costs, at least £120m from a civil service recruitment freeze and £600m from reducing quango costs and £520m from other "lower value" spend
* The biggest cuts by department are £683m at Transport, £780m at Communities and Local Government, £836m at Business, £670m at Education and £325m Department for Justice
* The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would have to save £704m - although they would have the option of deferring savings until the following year
* And local authorities - which will be expected to save £1.165bn - will be given more "flexibility" to find savings as "ring-fences" around government grants are being removed.
Chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws said Child Trust Fund payments would be axed by January.
He said halting these £250 payments to newborns from the end of the year - and the £250 top-up payments at age seven from August - would save £320m during the current year.
The years of public sector plenty are over, but the more decisively we act the quicker and stronger we can come through these tough times
David Laws
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
University places cut
Child Trust Funds axed
At-a-glance: Spending cuts
He admitted there would be "disappointment to some parents" but said Child Trust Fund money which would have gone to disabled children would instead be used to provide respite care - amounting to 8,000 week-long breaks for severely disabled children.
Mr Osborne and Mr Laws did not say how many public sector jobs were expected to go - but said the bulk would come from not filling posts as people left them.
Public servants will be stopped from travelling first class and ministers from having a dedicated car and driver - instead they will be expected to walk, use public transport or pooled cars.
Mr Laws said the cuts were designed to send a "shockwave" through government departments and discourage waste but he said they would protect "as far as is possible" key front line services and protect those on the "lowest incomes".
'Protect jobs'
He will chair an "efficiency and reform group" with Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude to help push through the savings.
Mr Laws said: "The years of public sector plenty are over, but the more decisively we act the quicker and stronger we can come through these tough times.
This is not a common-or-garden Whitehall pruning exercise. It is the first round in what is going to be a long - and painful - game
Stephanie Flanders
BBC economics editor
Flanders: Scalpel before axe
Peston: Will firms applaud cuts?
"We also promise to cut with care, we are going to be a progressive government even in these tough times."
Chancellor Mr Osborne argued that unless the government tackled huge public debt, it could derail the economic recovery.
"We need to take urgent action to keep our interest rates lower for longer, to boost confidence in the economy, and protect jobs to show the world we can live within our means.
"We need to tackle the deficit so that our debt repayments don't spiral out of control. And the more we do now the more we can spend on the things that really matter in the years ahead."
'Very disappointed'
The announcement is the first step in the coalition government's attempt to eliminate the bulk of the UK's budget deficit - estimated at £156bn - over the next five years.
It comes ahead of the government's emergency Budget on 22 June and its autumn review of long-term departmental spending.
Mr Laws acknowledged there would be "even tougher decisions" ahead adding: "This is only the first step on what will be a long road to restore good management to our public finances."
During the election, the Lib Dems and Conservatives disagreed over the need for cuts this year but those differences were put aside as both sides made compromises in their coalition deal.
The coalition has ordered an audit of all spending commitments approved since the start of the year, saying ex-ministers were guilty of profligacy and making pledges they knew they could not meet.
Becta, the government's technology agency for schools, has been abolished - its chairman Graham Badman, and chief executive, Stephen Crowne, said they were "very disappointed" and said the agency saved schools and colleges "many more times" more money than Becta cost to run.
Shadow Chancellor Alistair Darling told the BBC some of the measures announced had been "in train when we left office just two weeks ago" but in other areas there was a lack of detail: "There could be thousands of jobs affected by this, there could be measures that could damage growth. I would be very, very concerned about that."
He added: "They've already announced that 10,000 student places are to be cut this year, they've already announced the Child Trust Fund is going but there's an awful lot of detail still to come out."
"Until we know the detail we don't know how many jobs could be at risk." | 
