The Chancellor has presented the Government’s Spending Review, his speech can be read here. The Spending Review announced billions of pounds to help tackle COVID-19 next year, increased funding for public services, such as hospitals, schools and more police and £100 billion of capital expenditure next year. The Spending Review will provide £3.6 billion of additional funding in 2021-22 for DWP to deliver labour market support. This includes funding for the new 3-year long £2.9 billion Restart programme to provide intensive and tailored support to over 1 million unemployed people and help them find work. Also announced were planned improvements to the way the apprenticeship levy system works including new processes to redistribute unspent funds, and that employer incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice introduced in the Plan for Jobs will be extended to 31 March 2021 and additional incentives will be introduced in 2021. This summary of the Spending Review from House of Commons Library outlines what it means for the economy and public finances over the next few years. This article focuses on the Chancellor’s view during the spending review that the ‘Covid economic emergency has only just begun’. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, has outlined how it will have a key role in delivering some of the pledges from the spending review.
