Mario has welcomed the Spending Round which ensures that all government departments have the funding they need to deliver on the public’s priorities – clearing the decks to allow them to focus on Brexit.
On Wednesday, the Government set out a new bold and ambitious agenda to build a brighter future for our country as we prepare to leave the European Union on 31 October.
As part of the Government’s commitments to fund the nation’s priorities, the Spending Round confirmed:
- More funding for schools so that every child gets a superb education, wherever they are in the country. Spending on schools will rise by £2.6 billion next year, rising to £7.1 billion by 2022-23, enabling per pupil funding to increase.
- An investment of £400 million in Further Education, ensuring young people have the skills they need for the future.
- An extra £750 million to recruit 20,000 new police officers – ensuring the police has the resources it needs to tackle the rise in violent crime and keep the public safe.
- Making sure people start seeing the £33.9 billion cash increase for the NHS in their frontline services. We are investing in upgrading facilities and equipment, and supporting and training the NHS workforce.
- More funding to the devolved administrations so that they have the money they need to continue delivering vital services.
- Further funding for other domestic priorities – including £200 million to transform bus services, more funding for Homes England to help more young people onto the housing ladder, and an extra £30 million to help us achieve Net Zero by 2050.
Commenting, Mario said:
“Thanks to the hard work of the British people and tough decisions made by successive Conservative governments over the last decade, we can now afford to spend more on people’s priorities.
“I am delighted that this Spending Round is continuing to support the nation’s priorities. His ambitious plans will ensure a fantastic education for every child, safer streets across the country, and better healthcare for those who need it.
“Only Boris Johnson and the Conservatives will build a brighter future for Britain – ensuring that we have a strong economy and can reap the benefits of Brexit after we leave the EU on 31 October.”
Getting the UK back on the road to a brighter future…
- We have reduced the deficit, meaning we can now turn the page and spend more on our vital public services. The deficit is forecast to be only 1.1 per cent in 2018-19 compared to nearly 10 per cent in 2010, and we are able to deliver the fastest increase in day-to-day departmental spending in 15 years.
- We are focusing on the priorities of the British public. This means for the first time since 2002 all departments will have their budgets maintained or increased in real terms, including £200 million to transform bus services, funding for Homes England to help more young people onto the housing ladder, and an extra £30 million to help us achieve Net Zero by 2050.
- It’s vital that every pound of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. This Spending Round is being delivered within the Government’s existing fiscal rules and with a new focus on outcomes – ensuring that extra spending results in improvements that make a difference to people’s lives.
- This gives all areas of government the financial certainty they need to focus on delivering Brexit on 31 October as we build a brighter future for our country. Our top priority is making sure we are ready to leave the EU on 31 October and we have committed over £8 billion to prepare.
Funding the nation’s priorities…
- Increasing minimum per pupil funding, levelling up education funding and giving all young people the same opportunities to succeed. Next year every secondary school will receive a minimum of £5,000 per pupil, and by 2021-22 every primary school will get at least £4,000 per pupil. Next year, we are also providing over £700 million extra for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
- Investing £400 million in Further Education, ensuring young people have the skills they need for the future. This additional funding will train and teach our young people the skills they need for well-paid jobs in the modern economy and is the single biggest annual increase for the sector since 2010.
- Giving the police the resources and powers they need to keep our streets safe. The Home Office is receiving a 6.3 per cent increase in real terms to the department’s resource budget, the largest planned annual growth rate in at least 15 years, as we prioritise cutting crime:
- Providing an extra £750 million to begin recruitment of the 20,000 new police officers, with the first 6,000 in place by March 2021. This will give the police the resources they need to tackle serious violence. We are also providing £30 million to tackle child sexual exploitation and protecting the counter-terrorism policing budget.
- Investing in the criminal justice system as part of our wider crackdown on crime. We are providing £100 million to improve security and reduce on crime within prisons, £55 million to ensure the system can cope with an increase in demand thanks to 20,000 additional officers, and funding to begin delivering 10,000 additional prison places.
- Making sure people start seeing the £33.9 billion cash increase for the NHS in their frontline services. We are delivering on the historic five-year settlement confirmed in January and ensuring it makes a real difference to the lives of NHS staff, and above all, of patients:
- Providing capital funding to upgrade 20 hospitals across England. This will upgrade outdated facilities and equipment and invest in artificial intelligence to improve patient care and save more lives.
- Spending an additional £1 billion on social care to support local authorities to meet rising demand. We are also maintaining £2.5 billion of existing social care grants and consulting on a 2 per cent precept to enable councils to access a further £500 million, supporting them to meet rising demand and stabilise the social care system.
- Investing in training our NHS staff to support them to continue providing the best quality care. We are increasing Health Education England’s budget to help increase training placements, launching a three year £1,000 personal development budget for every nurse, midwife and allied health professional, and boosting wider education and training budgets to deliver our long-term plan for the NHS.
- Preparing the UK to leave EU on 31 October, whatever the circumstance. The best outcome is to leave with a deal, but to get that deal, we need to be prepared to leave with no deal:
- We have already doubled Brexit funding this year by making £2 billion more available and havetoday announced £2 billion extra to bring the total to over £8 billion. This will ensure our borders, ports and businesses have the capacity and infrastructure they need for all eventualities.
- Strengthening our Union by ensuring devolved administrations have the funding they need to continue delivering vital services. The Scottish Government is receiving an increase of over £1.2 billion to the block grant, the Welsh Government is receiving over £600 million, and the Northern Ireland Administration is receiving over £400 million, building on the £300 million announced in July to deliver city and growth deals across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Conservatives are delivering for London:
- There are over 884,000 more people in employment in London than in 2010 and close to 378,000 more businesses.
- Since 2010, the number of people in employment in London has increased the fastest of all UK regions (23.4 per cent).
- Since 2010, the employment rate in London has increased the second fastest of all UK regions.
Spending Round support for London includes:
- 26 secondary schools in London will see per-pupil funding level up to at least £5,000 next year and 61 primary schools will level up to at least £3,750.
- The £190 million of further education funding to increase core funding for 16-19-year olds is expected to benefit providers in London by £25.1 million in 2020-21.
- As part of the £850 million over the next five years to upgrade facilities and equipment in 20 hospitals:
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- Croydon health services NHS trust is receiving £12.7 million to extend and refurbish critical care units at Croydon University hospital.
- Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North-East London NHS FT is receiving £17 million to develop a new health and wellbeing hub.
- Continued funding for the DCMS sponsored museums will mean that our great museums in London, such as the British Museum, Science Museum and the Tate, can continue with their excellent work.
- Continued funding for the Adult Education Budget is devolved to the Mayor of London and will ensure that adult skills provision can be focused on meeting local area needs.
- £422 million is being provided to help reduce homelessness and rough sleeping, including an additional £54 million in 2020-21, representing a real term increase of 13 per cent compared to 2019-20. This funding will benefit London alongside the rest of the country.
In addition to the measures included in this Spending Round, we are committed in investing in London:
- £778 million of the £5.5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund, to forward fund infrastructure to unlock 55,000 homes by supporting the Old Oak Common, Meridian Water, Docklands Light Railway and East London Line bids.
- £5.1 billion has been allocated to London from the Affordable Homes Programme between 2016-17 to 2025-26.
- To date, London has received £435.28 million of funding through the Local Growth Fund. This includes support for skills capital investment to deliver further improvements to the local skills infrastructure.
- £100 million of discounted borrowing for Transport for London from the Public Works Loan Board to expand step free access on underground stations.
