Spending Round 2019

On 4^th September, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the 2019 Spending Round, showing an overall real terms increase of 4.1% in public spending. This concentrated mainly on departments’ day-to-day spending, since the main capital budgets had already been set, and a full multi-year Spending Review will take place in 2020. Highlights included: 

• An extra £400 million of funding for Further Education, with £190 million for core 16-19 budgets and £210 million for targeted interventions including T Level implementation, Higher Education, Apprenticeships and other workforce activities
• An additional £30 million for decarbonisation activity towards the 2050 Net Zero Greenhouse Gases target (further information in the Autumn National Infrastructure Strategy)
• A £243 million increase in funding for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
• An announcement of plans to be published in the autumn, for a significant boost to public R&D funding towards the existing commitment to reach 2.4% of GDP 

Future Spending Reviews will be informed by a new Public Value Framework, which will evaluate outcomes such as average earnings at fixed periods after leaving education or training, GCSE outcomes, and citation impact of publicly funded research in Higher Education.

Departments will make their own announcements as to how this Spending Round affects their activity.

Full report