It’s a spending review of some significance.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her much awaited spending review today. It’s a spending review of some significance. It’s approaching a year since the Labour government was elected, and with the likes of Reform trying to appeal to voters’ sense of apathy and disenchantment, this was a moment for Reeves and the Labour government to show that is getting on with the task of delivering the change it has promised to voters.
1.£39bn plan to build affordable homes across the UK
A huge boost was announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves for building more affordable homes.
Around £39 billion will be given in grants to be spent over 10 years for local authorities, private developers and housing associations.
This funding is a major increase compared to the previous affordable housing programme, which allocated £11.5billion over five years (2021–2026), or £2.3billion annually. According to the Guardian, ‘Rachel Reeves’s pledge to almost double the grants to support affordable housing to £39bn over the next decade has lifted shares in UK housebuilders today.’
2. Government announces it will end the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this parliament
Rachel Reeves also used the Spending Review to announce that the government would be ending the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this parliament. The chancellor said that she had already announced £150m of funding to establish the new Border Security Command at the Budget – and today she can announce further funding of “up to £280m more per year by the end of the Spending Review for our new Border Security Command”.
She added: “Billions of pounds of taxpayers money spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels, leaving people in limbo and shunting the cost of failure on to local communities.
“We won’t let that stand…we will be ending the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament.
3. A “record cash investment” of £29bn in day-to-day spending for the NHS
The chancellor also announced a record-breaking cash boost for the NHS.
The chancellor said the health service will receive an extra £29 billion a year from the Treasury – a rise of 3% after inflation.
Reeves said: “I am proud to announce today that this Labour government is making a record cash investment in our NHS, increasing real-terms, day to day spending by 3% per year for every year of this spending review.
“An extra £29bn per year for the day to day running of the health service. That is what the British people voted for and that is what we will deliver: more appointments, more doctors, more scanners.”
4. Schools
The chancellor also announced a cash Investment rising to nearly £2.3bn per year to fix “crumbling classrooms”, with £2.4bn per year to continue the programme to rebuild 500 schools.
Reeves also committed to a £4.5bn annual increase in the core schools budget by the end of the current spending review.
5. Transport
Transport was another area where the chancellor announced new investment to rebuild Britain.
There will be £15bn for new rail, tram and bus networks across the West Midlands and the North, alongside a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester.
In London, Reeves says there will be a “four-year settlement” for the Transport for London and a “fourfold increase” in local transport grants by the end of this parliament.
And to make public transport an appealing option, the £3 bus cap has been extended to March 2027. It had been £2 up to the end of 2024.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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