The Chancellor was today setting out how the government intends to spend taxpayers' money - with projects and developments in Greater Manchester expected to benefit from funding.
Rachel Reeves was unveiling her long-anticipated Spending Review on Wednesday (June 11), arguing that her priorities are 'the priorities of working people'.
The review, which will set out day-to-day spending plans for the next three years and capital spending plans for the next four, is expected to see boosts for the NHS, defence and schools.
It is also likely to involve squeezes for other departments as the Chancellor seeks to keep within the fiscal rules she has set for herself.
Her room for manoeuvre has also been further constrained by the government’s U-turn on winter fuel payments, which will see the benefit paid to pensioners receiving up to £35,000 per year at a cost of around £1.25bn to the Treasury.
A huge £15.6bn boost for public transport projects in England's city regions has already been announced - including projects in Greater Manchester.
Among the schemes the Chancellor could put money towards in the Spending Review is the regeneration of Old Trafford.
Meanwhile Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, is also looking for a commitment from the government to build a new railway line between Manchester and Liverpool.
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The Spending Review, too, could have implications for Manchester council's plans to move Strangeways prison and revamp the area, a new civil service hub in Ancoats and the 15,000-home Victoria North development.
The Chancellor is also expected to announce changes to the Treasury's 'green book' rules that govern whether major projects are approved.
The Government hopes that changing the green book will make it easier to invest in areas outside London and the South.
We'll bring you the latest in the live blog below...
Key Events
Council tax
Rachel Reeves has said that the Government will not be “going above” council tax increases of 5 per cent per year.
Asked whether the spending review depended on council tax increases and whether people should expect increases throughout the Parliament, she told ITV: “The previous government increased council tax by 5% a year, and we have stuck to that. We won’t be going above that.
“That is the council tax policy that we inherited from the previous government, and that we will be continuing.
“And of course, that money goes into those local public services, including social care, and in case of the police precept, it goes into our local policing.”
Investment in rail 'long overdue'
Responding to today’s Spending Review, Transport for the North Chief Executive Martin Tugwell said: “We are very pleased with the extra investment in the North’s transport infrastructure and services that has been announced.
"An extra £3.5 billion for the TransPennine Upgrade, support for the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and a four-fold increase in local transport grants are all very welcome, especially after last week’s announcement of billions for city region transport schemes.
"We are also pleased to see more support for bus services, including the extension of the fare cap, and franchising pilots in York & North Yorkshire and Cheshire.
"And we look forward to seeing the 10-year Infrastructure Strategy, including how Northern Powerhouse Rail will be progressed, later this month.
"The economy of the North is constrained by its creaking Victorian rail infrastructure; investment in new rail capacity is long overdue to unlock the region’s growth potential."
MP welcomes tram plans
Heywood and Middleton North's Labour MP Elsie Blundell has welcomed plans to bring tram-trains to her constituency.
Speaking in Parliament, she said: "I welcome the government's announcement of an additional £2.5bn into Greater Manchester. This will have a real benefit for my constituency and the town of Heywood which will get the tram for the first time. What can the government do together with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to make sure we get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible?"
Responding, Ms Reeves thanked the Labour MP for her 'lobbying'. She said: "Working together with the mayor of Greater Manchester, we will ensure that those spades are in the ground quickly so that her constituents can benefit from this additional investment that this government is putting in."
'Major implications' for councils
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), said: "This was a ‘missions’ driven Spending Review - with eye-catching sums for projects aimed at delivering growth, clean energy and a 3% rise in spending on the NHS.
"Angela Rayner has clearly persuaded the Chancellor to put the affordable homes agenda front and centre of today’s statement, with that promise of £39bn.
"It was a Spending Review full of hard choices for the government in the face of tough financial circumstances, a position all of us in local government are used to.
"These decisions will have major implications for local government and local communities across the country for years to come."
Health and defence 'big winners'
Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson warned that increased defence and health funding at the spending review would result in “a less-generous settlement elsewhere”.
In the IFS’s initial response to the spending review, the think tank chief said: “There was more cash for the English NHS, which as usual was the biggest winner from the spending review process. Defence spending is planned to hit 2.5% of national income (2.6% if you include the security services) and stay there, with its budget bolstered by a sharp increase in capital funding, treated kindly by the Chancellor’s fiscal rules.
“In pounds and pence, these two departmental behemoths – health and defence – were the big winners, but even here, one has to wonder whether this will be enough."
Police budgets 'incredibly challenging'
Chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Gavin Stephens said: “It is clear that this is an incredibly challenging outcome for policing. In real terms, today’s increase in funding will cover little more than annual inflationary pay increases for officers and staff.
“Whilst we await further detail on allocation to individual forces, the amount falls far short of what is required to fund the Government’s ambitions and maintain our existing workforce.
“A decade of underinvestment has left police forces selling buildings, borrowing money and raising local taxes to maintain the what we already have, with forces facing a projected shortfall of £1.2bn over the next two years, which is now expected to rise.
“This is against a backdrop of increasing crime rates, with new and escalating threats from organised crime and hostile states, and more offenders being managed in the community as a result of an overstretched criminal justice system.
“Cutting crime isn’t just about officer numbers – we need specialist skills and people, supported with the right systems and technology, to better protect communities.
“We fully support the Government’s drive to cut crime and grow officer numbers, but for these to succeed, investment in policing must live up to the ambition.”
Sadiq Khan: Don't level down London
The Mayor of London has welcomed the spending review’s investment in housing and Transport for London, but said he remains concerned about the lack of money for new infrastructure.
Sir Sadiq Khan said: “I’ve been determined to stand up for London, and it’s good news that we have won extra resources for transport and housing. I have been campaigning for years for a multi-year deal for City Hall and for Transport for London, and I welcome this agreement.
“However, I remain concerned that this spending review could result in insufficient funding for the Met and fewer police officers.
“It’s also disappointing that there is no commitment today from the Treasury to invest in the new infrastructure London needs. Projects such as extending the Docklands Light Railway not only deliver economic growth across the country, but also tens of thousands of new affordable homes and jobs for Londoners.
“Unless the Government invests in infrastructure like this in our capital, we will not be able to build the numbers of new affordable homes Londoners need.
“As mayor, I’ll continue to make the case to the Government that we must work together for the benefit of our capital and the whole country.
“The way to level up other regions will never be to level down London. I’ll continue to fight for the investment we need so that we can continue building a fairer, safer and greener London for everyone.”
'On the right track'
Responding to the Spending Review, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “After over a decade of Conservative chaos, rebuilding and repairing Britain was never going to be easy – but this Government is on the right track.
“The much-needed cash injection into the NHS and schools will be vital to help fix our public services after years of Conservative austerity, and an important boost for the workforce.
“Funding for key infrastructure like Sizewell C, transport and decent homes is how you secure good jobs and deliver industrial revival up and down the country.”
Five key things
From housing to health and policing to prisons, there was a lot in the Spending Review. Here are five key announcements.
'A clear commitment to devolution'
Jason Prince, Director of the Urban Transport Group, which represents transport authorities across the UK, has given his reaction.
He said: "The Spending Review - together with the Chancellor’s transport funding announcement last week - acknowledges the tireless work of our members in delivering better public transport services, and provides a clear commitment to devolution.
“We now have funding clarity over the coming years that will help deliver vital local transport schemes and services, spurring economic growth and investment in public transport."
Tax rises in autumn budget 'will never be repeated'
Hitting back at the shadow chancellor, Ms Reeves said tax rises were made last year but such a budget 'will never be repeated again'.
She told MPs: “There will be a budget later this year and in that budget, we will set out in the round all of the fiscal plans, but we have already drawn a line under the Tory mismanagement with tax rises last year.
“And we will never have to repeat a budget like that again, because we will never have to clean up after the mess that the party opposite made.”
'A masterclass in delusion'
Mr Stride said the chancellor "knows she will have to come back in the autumn with more tax rises to fund these plans".
He said the spending review speech was a “masterclass in delusion”, saying: “Her tone today suggests that all is well, the sunny uplands await.”
“What a hopeless conceit. A masterclass in delusion.”
Shadow chancellor brands Reeves the 'tinfoil chancellor'
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride says the spending review 'isn't worth the paper its written on'.
He says the chancellor presents herself as the 'iron' chancellor, but is actually a 'tinfoil' chancellor - 'flimsy and ready to fold in the face of the slightest pressure'.
He tells the House: “She said she would not fiddle her fiscal rules. Then she did. She said she wouldn’t make any unfunded commitments, but with the humiliation of the winter fuel U-turn, she just has.
“She looked business leaders in the eye and said ‘no more taxes’. But we all know what happened next, and we all know what is coming in the autumn.
“Her own backbenchers, her Cabinet colleagues, Labour’s trade union paymasters, even the Prime Minister himself, they have all seen that she is weak, weak, weak.”
'These are the choices of the British people'
Ms Reeves concludes by saying her spending review will 'deliver the priorities of the British people'.
"I have made my choices, in place of chaos, I choose stability, in place of decline, I choose investment, in place of pessimism, division and defeatism, I choose national renewal," she says.
"These are my choices, these are Labour choices, these are the choices of the British people."
Extra £29bn a year for the NHS
Finally, Ms Reeves addresses the NHS, which she calls 'our most treasured public service'.
She says that in less than a year this government has recruited 1,700 new GPs, delivered 3.5m extra appointments and cut waiting lists by more than 200,000.
She says the NHS's tech budget will increase by nearly 50 per cent. £10bn will be invested to bring the analogue system into the digital age, such as through the NHS app.
Funding will be provided to train thousands more GPs, she says.
The government is investing in mental health support teams in schools, she says.
She says these investments will put the NHS 'firmly on the path back to renewal'.
The government will make a 'record cash investment' in the NHS, she says, with a 3 per cent increase in spending per year for the duration of this review.
She says that is an extra £29bn a year for the day to day running of the NHS.
Uplift of more than £4.5m for schools budget
Moving onto education, Ms Reeves says free school meals are being extended to over 500,000 children. She says this will 'lift 100,000 children out of poverty'.
She says the national roll out of free breakfast clubs will continue in schools 'so that no child goes hungry'.
She says £370m will be invested in school-based nurseries.
£555m worth of transformation funding will be provided for children's social care so childen do not 'go needlessly into care when they could stay at home', she says.
More than £130m will be allocated to fund facilities for young people, she says, for opportunities in music, sport and drama.
Ms Reeves says there will be a cash uplift of more than £4.5bn a year in the core schools budget.
She says there will also be investment to 'fix our crumbling classrooms'.
'This must mean a new line'
Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, has shared his take on the government's commitment to a new railway line in the north. And he reckons it was more than just a nod to the plans for a new Manchester-Liverpool line.
He said: “Today’s Spending Review included a commitment by the Chancellor to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail – a project promised by the last government but repeatedly part cancelled and delayed.
"This must mean a new line from Liverpool to Hull and on to the North East, including a new station and route through Bradford, upgrades and electrification between Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester, a new line from Manchester Airport to Piccadilly and across to Yorkshire, and the full reopening of the Leamside Line.”
Savings made in public services
Ms Reeves says savings have been made through closing and selling government buildings and land and reducing consultancy spend.
Reforms to the public sector will make services more productive and efficient, she says.
"I will be relentless in cutting out waste with every single penny invested back into public services."
'Rewriting the rules'
Zoë Billingham, Director of northern think tank IPPR North said: “Treasury’s old school spending style has for too long rigged decisions against our regions; today’s Spending Review starts to rewrite the rules.
“The introduction of place-based business cases and the clear recognition of where things are made and who makes them both matter. Doubling down on transport investment and extending bus fare caps are very welcome; pan northern rail will be the next frontier of investment in regional growth. Game changing housing investment will anchor this growth.
“Voters expect to see change, and one of the most tangible things they feel is the services councils deliver. Multi-year settlements and real terms spending increases for local authorities are a step in the right direction, ending annual cliff edge chaos.”
Millions to receive financial support during winter
Ms Reeves says over three quarters of pensioners will receive the Winter Fuel Payment this year. The government announced earlier this week that the payment of up to £300 will go to people of state pension age who have an income of £35,000 or less.
She says the government is also expanding the Warm Homes plan to support further vulnerable people during winter. This includes £7m to homes in Bradford, £11m in Rugby and £30m to homes in Blackpool.
The chancellor says the government will also upgrade millions of homes across the country, to save households up to £600 a year off their bills.
Caps on school uniform costs and bus fares to tackle cost of living crisis
She says the cost of living remains a constant challenge.
The government is capping the cost of school uniforms, she says, and the £3 bus fare cap will be extended until at least March 2027.
Funding for police and prisons
Moving onto prisons and policing, Ms Reeves says the government will invest £7bn to fund 14,000 new prison places. Up to £700m a year will be put into reforming the probabtion system, she adds.
She says police spending power will increase by an average of 2.3 per cent per year over the review period. That is more than £2bn, she says, which will help towards the target of putting an additional 13,000 officers into neighbourhood policing roles.
Improvements in youth facilities, parks and libraries
Ms Reeves says the renewal of Britian 'must be felt everywhere'.
She says money will be invested to support up to 350 communities, especially those in the most deprived areas, to impove parks, youth facilities, swimming pools and libraries.
She says money will be put into local projects such as Southport pier, Kirkcaldy seafront and high street and Peterborugh's new sports quarter.
"People deserve a government that shares their ambition for their communities," she says.
Money for devolved governments
Devolved governments will be backed with the 'largest settlement in real terms since devoltuion was introduced', she says.
That includes £52bn for Scotland, £20bn for Northern Ireland and £23bn for Wales.
She also confirms £118m to keep coal tips safe in Wales.
Review of Treasury's 'green book' for assessing value for money
Ms Reeves says she is today publishing the conclusion of a review into the Treasury's green book, which is the goverment's 'manual for assessing value for money'.
The new green book will support place-based business cases and 'make sure no region has Treasury guidance wielded against them', she says.
£15bn transport investment to 'connect towns and cities'
Ms Reeves says £15bn will be invested to connect cities and towns - she says this is the biggest ever investment of its kind.
This includes investment in buses in Rochdale, train stations in Merseyside, mass transit in West Yorkshire and metro extensions in Birmingham and Greater Manchester.
In London, TfL will get a 4-year settlement to 'provide certainty and stability for our largest local transport network to plan for the future'.
For other regions of the UK, she announces a 'four-fold increase' in local transport grants by the end of this Parliament.
Major rail projects will get investment, she says, such as the TransPennine route upgrade linking York, Leeds and Manchester. She says a quarter of that route is expected to be electrified by this summer.
Ms Reeves says funding will be provided for the Midlands Rail Hub, the region's 'biggest and most ambitious rail improvement scheme for generations'. £445m will be invested in railways in Wales over 10 years.
£39bn for affordable homes
The chancellor moves onto housing.
"As we build a strong, secure and resiliant economy, working people must feel the benefits," she says, "that starts with the security of a proper home".
Ms Reeves says Labour's planning reforms have 'opened up the opportunity to build' and now the govenrment 'must act to make the most of them'.
"A plan to match the scale of the housing crisis must include social housing."
She says she is announcing "the biggest cash injection into social and affordable housing in 50 years". A new affordable homes programme will get £39bn of funding over the next decade, she says.
Police budgets increase
Greater Manchester Police's chief constable was among those who called for a boost to police budgets. This was the subject of lengthy negotiations between the Treasury and the Home Office which was the last government department to agree its budget.
The Chancellor has now announced that police 'spending power' will increase by an average of 2.3 per cent a year in real-terms over spending review period. On the face of it, this seems like good news for police forces.
But what does 'spending power' mean? In the past the Tories have used this terminology when it comes to councils. What that they didn't say is that part of this 'spending power' relied on raising council tax. The devil is in the detail...
£1.2bn to train young people
She says young people who want training are too often turned away and their ambitions 'stifled'. 'Potential wasted and enterprise frustrated'.
Ms Reeves says she is providing 'record investment' for training and upskilling - £1.2bn a year by the end of the spending review to support young people into training and apprenticeships.
