In her first Budget as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves has outlined measures that will fix the foundations of the economy, and set out how she plans to encourage economic growth around the country.
As the government works to drive improvement and stability across public services, the Budget did bring a commitment to increase departmental spending, as well as using technology to enhance services.
Local government will also benefit from an additional £1.3 billion in grant funding, with £600m and £230m of this being dedicated to social care and homelessness respectively. This should help to stabilise council spending on some of the areas that are driving up funding shortfalls and leaving councils on the edge of bankruptcy.
The devolved governments across the UK will also see further investment, with Scotland being given £3.4 billion, Wales being given £1.7 billion, and £1.5 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that public services can be protected.
EDUCATION
One thing that the Chancellor outlined in her speech, what that schools are critical to driving growth in the UK. As part of this mission to improve education for children and young people nationally, the government has committed an additional £4 billion for the sector. £2.3 billion of this will be added to the core schools’ budget, outlining a real-term increase to spending per pupil. Further education will also benefit from an additional £300 million of investment.
Alongside this, the government outlined a commitment to ensuring that children across the country benefit from the best start, including the start of their school day, as it tripled the investment in breakfast clubs.
With councils struggling as they face pressures coming from Special Education Needs and Disabilities demand, the Chancellor also confirmed that SEND investment would increase to £1 billion.
TRANSPORT
Transport is also central to increasing growth across the nation, as it will allow people to get to and from education or employment. Part of this will see regional towns and cities benefitting through increased investment for road maintenance and local transport. With £650 million of investment set aside for this, local journeys will be improved and those vital connections can be maintained for growth.
Metro mayors will also benefit from further investment into their City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, as the government adds £200 million to the pot for their projects in the next year alone. This will bring the settlements to over £1.3 billion.
The Chancellor did also confirm that the £3 bus fare cap will remain next year, however, some areas could see this lowered to £2 thanks to the powers that their mayor holds. One such area is Greater Manchester, which witnessed Mayor Andy Burnham confirm yesterday that his Bee Network would keep the £2 single ticket price cap in place.
HOUSING
Housing has been the focus of one of the government’s main focuses since it came into office in July, with the commitment remaining in place to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament. As communities nationwide see rising levels of homelessness and rough sleeping, much has been made of the sky-high amounts of budget that councils are being forced to spend on temporary accommodation, by building more affordable housing, many of those people who are relying on their council for support, could instead be helped to get into their own home and become more independent.
To support the mission of delivering new homes, the Budget saw the government committing £5 billion to the delivery of housing this parliament, with £1.36 billion supporting an increase to affordable housing stock. Following the publication of the report into the Grenfell Tower tragedy, homes are also to be improved, with the government putting £1.37 billion into the removal of dangerous cladding.
The planning system can support the delivery of new homes and infrastructure and is set to receive a significant boost as the government committed to hiring hundreds of new planning officers.
Alongside these measures, the Chancellor also doubled down on the establishment of Skills England and GB Energy, with the former helping to drive employment and get people working, and the letter enabling energy security and decarbonisation.
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