The next government has been urged to launch a one-year spending review within its first few weeks to avoid a damaging cliff edge at the end of the year.
The government’s choice to not go ahead with a Spending Review this year means departments will need to make difficult decisions on services as inflation erodes their budgets, experts have warned.
The Treasury has confirmed that the government will stick to the current funding settlement for departments, despite concerns over the impact of inflation on budgets.
Scotland is set to prioritise spending on health, education and climate change over the next four years, leaving other areas such as local government facing cuts, according to experts.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged there will be “absolutely no return to austerity” in the upcoming Spending Review, as the UK recovers from Covid-19.
November's Spending Review might not have marked a return to full-blooded austerity, but unprotected service areas are facing a financial squeeze after next year, writes IFS economist Ben ...
November's single-year Spending Review implies future cuts to unprotected departments in the coming year, while tax rises seem the only option to pay down Covid-19 debt.
Cat Little had a baptism of fire after joining the Treasury in March 2020. From PPE purchasing to November’s Spending Review, controls have remained tight, she says.
The government has announced it is to allocate £220m of pilot funding to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund next year, to help local areas prepare for the full launch of the fund.
The government is to launch a national infrastructure bank next year, as part of its National Infrastructure Strategy aimed at driving the levelling-up agenda.
Councils in England will receive an additional £3bn to cover Covid-19 expenditure over the next year, alongside a lifting of social care precept for council tax, the government has confirmed.
More than half of English councils could be at risk of financial failure by 2023 if the Spending Review merely maintains funding levels, a report from financial adviser Grant Thornton has found.
MPs will assess the impact of a single-year spending review on councils’ long-term delivery of services as part of an inquiry into the spending review and local government finance.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has promised to lobby the Treasury “very strongly” to ensure councils receive the funding they need at the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Chancellor Sajid Javid’s £13.8bn Spending Round is likely to exceed the government’s borrowing limits, the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned.
As the battle for Brexit rages on, the government turned around a super fast one-year Spending Round. But sustainable funding requires longer-term thinking, writes Jonathan Werran.
