Yesterday, 11th June, saw Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, delivered the outcome of her spending review for 1025-2029. You can read the full spending review document here but we have summarised the key announcements below for you.
Having set out her Spending plans, the Chancellor will set out her Funding plans, including tax policies, in the Autumn Statement expected at the end of October 2025.
The key announcements for CSPA members include:
- The Chancellor announced that, in addition to increasing the means test threshold for Winter Fuel Payments to £35,000, the Warm Homes Plan has been expanded to reduce energy bills in winters to come – with £13.2 billion over the 4 year spending review period.
- Rachel Reeves added that the Government will upgrade millions of homes, resulting in £600 of savings for pensioners per year on energy bills.
- The Chancellor also announced an extension on the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
- The Government will invest a further £500 million in HMRC’s digital services over this Spending Review (SR) period to make HMRC a truly “digital first” organisation. By 2029-30, a minimum of 90% of customer interactions will be digital self-serve, up from around 70% in 2025.
- This will improve services so people can easily and quickly get the information they need without having to call or write to HMRC. The Government will continue to ensure that alternative channels, including phonelines, are still there for those who need them.
“CSPA welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment in the Spending Review announcements yesterday to longer term, increased investment in the NHS, the expansion of the Warm Homes Plan to reduce energy bills and funding for the new affordable homes delivery programme. “The most welcome news for CSPA members, and all pensioners is, of course, the reinstatement of Winter Fuel Payments this coming winter for 9 million more pensioners. “We were pleased to see that the Chancellor’s investment in the further digitisation of HMRC’s services is to be made alongside reassurances that the Government is to continue to ensure that alternative channels, including phonelines, will still be made available for those who need them.
Spending Review: Headline Announcements
Health and Social Care
- Announced a record cash investment to increase day-to-day spending by 3% every year of this Spending Review and an extra £29 billion a year for the day-to-day running of the NHS.
- Announced that the Government has delivered 3.5 million extra appointments within less than a year.
- Said the Government was increasing the NHS technology budget by nearly 50% and investing nearly £10 billion to upgrade the NHS digital services.
- Committed more funding towards training and investing more in prevention.
- £4 billion by 2028-29 for adult social care.
- The Louise Casey KQ Review of Social Service first phase to report in 2026.
Culture, Media and Sport
- £130 million of the Dormant Assets Scheme to be allocated to fund extra-curricular facilities for young people.
Energy Security and Net Zero
- An investment commitment to the nuclear sector: £14 billion for Sizewell C, £2.5 billion in Small Modular Reactors, £2.5 billion in nuclear fusion.
- Announced support for Track-2 CCUS projects: the Acorn CCUS project and support for the Viking Project.
- Investment for Great British Energy.
- £9.4 billion for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) over the SR period.
- Industrial Strategy – clean energy industries: “significant additional funding” to ensure the clean energy mission delivers growth across the UK.
- £13.2 billion to deliver the Warm Homes Plan.
- £300 million for offshore wind capacity over the Spending Review period.
Local Government
- Additional £3.4 billion of grant funding for local government by 2028-29.
- 25 “trailblazer neighbourhoods” that will receive up to £20 million over the next decade as part of a new fund announced at the Spending Review.
- Establishing a new local growth fund, including a 10-year capital settlement from 2026‑27 to 2035‑36, for specific mayoral city regions in the North and Midlands with the highest productivity catch-up and agglomeration potential.
Science, Innovation and Technology
- Increased R&D funding to £22.6 billion per year by the end of the Spending Review.
- £2 billion to back the Government’s AI Action Plan.
- Increasing the NHS technology budget by almost 50%.
- Up to £750 million for the Edinburgh University supercomputer project.
- £500 million for the new R&D Missions Accelerator Programme
- At least £1 billion over the SR to scale up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA)
- £160 million for TechFirst to ensure people have the right skills to deliver technological change
Defence and International Development
- Reiterated commitments to increasing defence spending by confirming that spending would increase to 2.6% of UK GDP by April 2027 – to be paid for by a reduction in overseas aid funding.
- This amounts to an £11 billion increase in defence spending and a £600 million raise for spending on security and intelligence agencies.
- £4.5 billion would be invested in munitions in Glasgow, Glascoed, Stevenage and Radway Green.
- £6 billion will be spent on upgrading nuclear submarine production in Barrow, Derby and Sheffield.
Business, Industry and Trade
- £500 million grant to Tata Steel in Port Talbot confirmed.
- R&D funding from the Government to rise to £22 billion per year by 2029/30.
- British Business Bank will see its financial capacity rise to £25.6 billion in the Parliament.
- Launching a Growth Mission fund for local community and business programmes.
Education
- Over £4.5 billion of increased spending for the core schools budget for the remainder of the Parliament.
- £22 billion of R&D funding for the remainder of the Parliament.
- £1.2 billion of funding for young people to enter training and upskilling programmes, and apprenticeships.
- £370 million for school-based nurseries.
- £555 million of transformation funding for children’s social care.
- £130 million allocated for young people’s facilities, in areas of sport, drama, and music, as well as libraries in schools.
- £2.6 billion to fund provision of mainstream school places from 2026-27 to 2029-30.
- £2.4 billion per year for the School Rebuilding Programme.
- Increase in annual maintenance investment for the school estate, rising to around £2.3 billion of funding per year by 2029-30.
- Schools White Paper to be published in the Autumn.
Housing
- A new affordable homes programme, worth £39 billion over the next decade.
- Described this as the biggest cash injection in social housing in the past 50 years.
- Noted that the new AHP would have a focus on social rent.
- Support for Homes England to deliver these homes.
- £2.5 billion in low-interest loans for social housing providers.
Transport
- £1.4 billion to support continued uptake of electric vehicles.
- £400 million for continued rollout of EV charging infrastructure.
- A four-year funding settlement for Transport for London.
- A fourfold increase in local transport grants during this Parliament.
- The Government’s continued support for upgrading the TransPennine line and the allocation of a further £3.5 billion for this project.
- The Government will set out more detail on its plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail in the coming weeks.
- The provision of £2.5 billion for the continued delivery of East West Rail.
- Funding for a Midlands Rail Hub.
- £445 million for railways in Wales over the next 10 years.
- The extension of the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
