Nick Clegg and David Cameron’s UK Tory-Lib Dem coalition is set to launch its second major Crowdsourcing initiative called ‘Spending Challenge’ later today.

The aim of ‘Spending Challenge’ is to reduce the UK’s deficit by inviting members of the public to suggest ways the Government could cut public spending. The website, already live, will be accompanied by the Facebook “Spending Challenge Channel” which will Crowdsource ideas from the social networks 23 million UK members.

David Cameron met with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earlier this week to discuss the possibiliity of a partnership deal. Cameron, once scepticle about the application of social networking to politics has been reported by the BBC as having become an advocate of such platforms naming them as the “primary channel” for communicating with the public about spending cuts. Could this mark the beginning of many new government crowdsourcing initatives?

‘Spending Challenge’ comes just a week after the launch of ‘Your Freedom’, the Crowdsourcing initative with the aim of determining what unnecessary laws the British people want to see repealed. However, this was open to a lot of abuse with many silly suggestions posted, will ‘Spending Challenge’ attract the same mistreatment?

If the government is to consider every idea suggested through ‘Spending Challenge’, how will they manage the hundreds of thousands of ideas they will receive and develop them into initiatives for the Spending Review due to be published in October 2010?