Maria Caulfield MP has welcomed the Spending Review which provides billions of pounds in the fight against coronavirus, delivers on the Conservative’s promises it has made to the British people and invests in the UK’s recovery.
The Government set out an ambitious plan that focuses on levelling up across the country, investing in vital infrastructure that will ensure the UK builds back better from coronavirus.
As part of the Government’s commitments to fund the nation’s priorities, the Spending Review confirmed:
1. A further £55 million to help with our response to coronavirus – including £18 billion for mass testing, Test and Trace, PPE and vaccines, and £3 billion to support NHS recovery.
2. A funding boost for the NHS. Next year, the health budget will grow by £6.6 billion, allowing us to deliver 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP appointments. We investing in new technologies, building 40 new hospitals, upgrading 70 more and replacing the vast majority of ageing diagnostic equipment.
3. More money for schools, meaning every pupil in the country will see a year-on-year funding increase of at least 2 per cent. We are also funding our commitment to rebuild 500 schools over the next decade and are providing £375 million to deliver the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
4. £400 million to recruit 6,000 new police officers – meaning we are on track to meet our manifesto pledge to recruit 20,000 more police officers by 2023.
5. More than £24 billion investment in defence – the biggest sustained increase in 30 years – allowing us to provide security not just for our country but around the world.
6. An increase in core spending power for local authorities by an estimated 4.5 per cent, along with over £3 billion of additional coronavirus support and an extra £254 million of funding to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
7. Capital spending of £100 billion next year, meaning vital investment in roads, rail, hospitals, schools, broadband and housing.
8. A new Levelling Up Fund, worth £4 billion in England and £800 million in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to build the infrastructure of everyday life.
9. A new National Infrastructure Strategy, and a new UK infrastructure bank - headquartered in the north of England - to work with the private sector to finance major new investment projects across the UK.
10. Support for every country across the United Kingdom, increasing Scottish Government funding by £2.4 billion, Welsh Government funding by £1.3 billion, and £900 million for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Maria Caulfield MP said “The Chancellor’s Spending Review tackles this unprecedented situation head on – ensuring lives and livelihoods in the Lewes constituency are protected and supported in the weeks and months ahead.”
“At the same time, I was elected at last year’s General Election on a commitment to level up communities like ours, and I am thrilled that this Conservative Government is now making good on that promise – by delivering a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure that will create jobs, grow the economy and increase pride in the place we call home.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak MP said “The Spending Review delivers the priorities of the British people. Our health emergency is not yet over, and the economic emergency has only just begun; so our immediate priority is to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.
“But the Spending Review also delivers stronger public services - paying for new hospitals, better schools and safer streets. And it delivers a once-in-a-generation transformation in our approach to infrastructure. Creating jobs, growing the economy, and increasing pride in the places people call home.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
We are committed to levelling up opportunities across the UK. People shouldn’t have to leave their local area to get on in life, or to further their career.
- Levelling up means spreading opportunity and investment across the UK so that people feel that they can succeed in their local area. We will deliver this pledge by boosting jobs, wages and prospects for all communities so that everybody gets the same opportunities in life.
- So, today’s Spending Review delivers on the priorities of the British people:
- Our immediate priority is to protect people’s lives and livelihoods as we respond to coronavirus.
- But we will also deliver stronger public services – more hospitals, better schools and safer streets.
- And deliver a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure – creating jobs, growing the economy, and increasing pride in the places people call home.
- We will deliver this pledge by boosting jobs, wages and prospects for all communities so that everybody gets the same opportunities in life.
The Spending Review delivers on our promises to support local public services:
- Ensuring every child has the best start in life by boosting per pupil funding. Schools in the South East will receive almost £5.9 billion in per-pupil funding through the schools block - an average per-pupil increase of 3.5 per cent compared to 20-21.
- Improving health services in the South East. We are building 4 hospitals and continuing to grow medical undergraduate degree places, with an additional 181 places in the South East compared to 2017-18.
- Investing in flood defences. We’re protecting over 16,000 properties in region through the early stages of our £5.2 billion six-year flood defences programme; this includes programmes in Pevensey and Eastbourne.
- Tackling crime by recruiting more police officers. The South East will benefit from a share of 6,000 new police officers in 2021-22.
- Unlocking more housing. The South East will benefit from over £1.1 billion in funding across 35 projects as part of the Housing Infrastructure Fund. This includes £95 million for road improvements, a school and a healthcare centre to unlock 5,000 homes in Milton Keynes East.
This follows our continued support for the South East through coronavirus:
- In total, we have supported almost 1.3 million jobs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
- Almost 185,000 businesses have been supported through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme and the Bounce Back Loans Scheme in the South East with loans worth over £7.4 billion.
- We have invested £147 million in local infrastructure priorities in the South East through the Getting Building Fund, supporting the region’s short-term recovery from COVID-19.
We are supporting economic priorities and revitalisation of communities and towns:
- Improving transport infrastructure and connectivity as part of our levelling up agenda. We are investing over £40 million in Southampton and Portsmouth in 21-22 to improve public transport, boost connectivity and reduce congestion through the Transforming Cities Fund, with over £120 million total being provided to these areas over the length of the programme. The South East will benefit from strategic roads upgrades such as to the M4 and the Lower Thames Crossing and over £160 million funding for local roads maintenance in 21-22. Guildford Borough Council has been awarded discounted PWLB rates to borrow £100 million for the Weyside Urban Village project under the Local Infrastructure Rate.
- Supporting the regeneration of 17 towns in the South East through the Towns Fund.
- Improving the local community through the Shared Outcomes Fund.
- The fund will facilitate the unlocking of housing and other developments in Southampton and Solent while protecting and enhancing the environment by helping to develop and trial a nutrient trading platform and reverse auction process, connecting developers with land managers willing to deliver nature-based solutions for nitrate pollution mitigation.
- Hastings will host one of five drugs enforcement and treatment pilots which looks to join up local law enforcement agencies, the NHS, prisons and social care services both to disrupt serious organised drugs and firearms trade and to provide support to tackle addiction.
- Continuing to invest in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, as we are committed to delivering sustainable economic and housing growth, supported by infrastructure, that meets the needs of local people. This includes funding to construct the first section of East West Rail upgrades between Bicester and Bletchley, continued development of the rest of the scheme, and funding towards the development of a Spatial Framework and to explore the case for up to four Development Corporations.
- Promoting opportunities to secure inward investment through the High Potential Opportunities Programme – including in animal health, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) modelling and simulation and civil nuclear fusion and supply chain.
This is in addition to other announcements that will benefit the region:
- £160 million in funding for modern ports and manufacturing infrastructure. This investment would allow the region to take advantage of the green industrial revolution and become a core part of the renewable energy industry.
- Investing £14.6 in Research and Development in 2021-22, which will be available to support UK innovators and researchers across the UK, including those in the South East, pursuing ground-breaking ideas and developing new technologies.
Kent County Council and Chichester Council will both host one of five pilot locations which will develop cost-effective and innovative approaches to planting or encouraging trees outside woodlands, from the Shared Outcomes Fund. Best wishes
