Spending Review 2019: turning the page on austerity?

It was another tumultuous day in Westminster, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid delivered few surprises as he set out the Government’s spending plans for 2020-2021. All the main announcements, such as extra money for the NHS, police, justice and schools had been announced or ‘leaked’ over the last month. 

The announcements under the banner of ‘turning the page on austerity and delivering on the public’s priorities’, were widely seen as building support for a forthcoming General Election. Boris Johnson challenged Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to back an October 15 general election, but this was not supported by MPs last night. The Government lifted its filibuster attempt in the House of Lords in the early hours of the morning after laying over 100 amendments. There is now a commitment that the withdrawal bill will pass by 5pm on Friday and return to the Commons for further consideration on Monday. It remains to be seen if this will mean a mid-October General Election, but it’s inevitable that we will be returning to the polling station in the near future. 

Overall from 2019-20 to 2020-21, day-to-day departmental spending is set to grow at 4.1% in real terms, the fastest growth in 15 years. The plans see every government department having its budget for day-to-day spending increased at least in line with inflation. However, with the exception of the Department of Health and Social Care, many departments will remain substantially below the level of funding received in 2010. 

Read our full UKHotViewsExtra article Spending Review 2019: turning the page on austerity? published today for details of the plan and our view on its implications for the different areas of the public sector.

Posted by Dale Peters at '09:22' - Tagged: publicsector   centralgovernment   localgovernment   education   socialcare   police   justice   healthcare