£100 billion capital spending including infrastructure to drive UK’s recovery and support jobs
The UK Government will provide billions of pounds in the fight against coronavirus, deliver on the promises it has made to the British people and invest in the UK’s recovery, the Chancellor has announced.
Delivering the Spending Review, Rishi Sunak said his immediate priority was to protect people’s lives and livelihoods as the country continues to battle the outbreak – allocating £55 billion to tackle the virus next year.
He also set out how the Government would deliver stronger public services – honouring the promises it made to the British people with core day-to-day departmental spending growing by £14.8 billion in cash terms next year compared to 2020/21. From 2019/20 levels, that is an average growth of 3.8% a year, the fastest rate in 15 years.
The Chancellor also announced how the Government would deliver the next stages of its record investment plans in infrastructure to drive the UK’s recovery and level up for a greener, stronger future with £100 billion of capital spending next year and a £4 billion Levelling Up Fund.
Setting out the budgets for Government departments and devolved administrations’ block grants for 2021/21, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “The Spending Review delivers on the priorities of the British people. Our health emergency is not yet over, and the economic emergency has only just begun; so our immediate priority is to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.
“It also delivers stronger public services – paying for new hospitals, better schools and safer streets. And it delivers a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure. Creating jobs, growing the economy, and increasing pride in the places people call home.”
Investing in public services and delivering promises
This includes a £6.3 billion cash increase in NHS spending as well as funding to invest in new diagnostic equipment, support training for the NHS workforce, refurbish and maintain infrastructure, and eradicate mental health dormitories. This is in addition to £3 billion of investment to support NHS recovery.
A £2.2 billion uplift for the core schools’ budget in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21 levels of funding has also been promised; and an additional £400 million to help recruit 20,000 additional police officers by 2023, with 6,000 new officers in 2021-22, £63 million to tackle economic crime, and £337m extra funding for the criminal justice system, along with establishing a world-leading Counter Terrorism Operations Centre.
Increasing core spending power for local authorities by an estimated 4.5 per cent in cash terms, along with over £3 billion of additional Covid 19 support and an extra £254 million of funding to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Throughout the pandemic the government have provided an unprecedented economic support package to protect and create jobs. The Spending Review builds on this by investing an additional £3.6 billion to build on commitments made in the Plan for Jobs. This includes the new 3-year £2.9 billion Restart scheme to help more than one million unemployed people find work.
Covid-19 support
Also announced is an additional £38 billion for public services to continue to fight the pandemic this year, and a further £55 billion to departments to respond to Covid-19 next year, including £2.6 billion for the devolved administrations.
Investment targeted at controlling and suppressing the virus – and saving lives – includes funding to enhance testing capacity, purchase vaccines, increase supply of key Covid-19 medicines, and purchase and distribute PPE.
Targeted funding is also being provided to support vital public services to help them meet and recover from the challenges of Covid. This includes money to help the NHS recover and address delayed treatments, extra funding for local authorities, support for transport, and funding to help the justice system address backlogs.
Building back better
Expecting to kickstart growth and support hundreds of thousands of jobs, the funding gives certainty for select projects – such as school and hospital rebuilding, housing and transport schemes.
Additional investment in areas which will improve the UK’s competitiveness in the long-term, backing new investments in cutting-edge research and clean energy sources, investing in a greener future.
The Chancellor also set out plans to further the levelling up agenda by launching a new £4 billion Levelling Up Fund that will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery.
This is supported by the new National Infrastructure Strategy outlining the Government’s long-term vision for infrastructure investment, and a new UK infrastructure bank – headquartered in the north of England – to work with the private sector to finance major new investment projects across the UK.
And to ensure that Government policies that have the most impact on levelling-up are created by those living in communities outside of London and the South East, the Treasury will set up its Northern headquarters next year. This is part of a wider work that will see thousands of civil servants move to the regions and nations of the UK.
To help people with their finances, the Chancellor also announced an increase in the National Living Wage, by 2.2% to £8.91 an hour from April 2021, likely benefiting around two million of the lowest paid. Alongside that, 2.1 million public sector workers who earn below the median wage of £24,000 will be guaranteed a pay rise of at least £250. And to help businesses, the business rates multiplier will be frozen in 2021-22, saving businesses in England £575 million over the next five years.
