The Chancellor Sajid Javid delivered his statement on the 2019
Spending Round to Parliament on 4 September 2019.
Reference to housing and social housing in particular, was
conspicuous by its absence in the Chancellor's speech on the 2019
Spending Round which he claimed heralded the fastest planned
increase in day-to-day departmental spending for 15 years 'turning
the page on austerity'.
The only significant announcement of additional funding for
housing was for £422 million resource funding to help reduce
homelessness and rough sleeping, including an additional £54
million in 2020-21.
The Chancellor said that day-to-day departmental spending will
grow by 4.1% above inflation in 2020-21 compared to the previous
year and for the first time since 2002, no government department
will see a cut to its day-to-day budget.
Compared to the previous year, departments will get a £13.8
billion real term increase in day-to-day spending to deliver on
priorities which the Government says reflect "the peoples'
priorities". The main headlines in the Chancellor's spending plans
announced in his speech to Parliament were:
Increased funding for schools:This Spending
Round provides an increase in funding for schools with every
secondary school allocated a minimum of £5,000 per pupil by
2020-21, and every primary school £4,000 per pupil by 2021-22. Over
£700 million extra funding will be made available to support
children and young people with special educational needs compared
to 2019-20 funding levels, and £400 million to train and teach more
than a million 16 to 19-year olds the skills they need for the
modern economy.
Increased funding for the NHS:This Spending
Round reaffirms the government's commitment to a cash increase of
£33.9 billion a year for the NHS by 2023-24 compared to 2018-19
budgets. A new £1,000 personal development budget over 3 years has
been allocated for every nurse, midwife and allied health
professional.
An extra £1.5 billion for social care:Councils
will have access to a further £1.5 billion for social care - £1
billion through a new grant and £500 million through the adult
social care precept.
20,000 more police officers:The Home Office
will receive extra funding to recruit 20,000 additional police
officers, and tackle child sexual exploitation.
10,000 additional prison places:There is extra
funding to begin delivery of 10,000 additional prison places,
improve security in prisons, and support the ongoing reform of the
probation system to provide better supervision and rehabilitation
of offenders.
£2.2 billion for the Armed Forces:£2.2 billion
in additional funding will be made available for the UK's Armed
Forces.
£490 million for transport:A £490 million cash
increase in the UK's transport network will include extra funding
to make buses more environmentally friendly, improve track
maintenance and support development of major projects.
Brexit funding for after the UK has left the
EU:£2 billion in 2020-21 will help the UK to establish a
new relationship with the EU, and capitalise on the opportunities
created by Brexit.
Additional funding for decarbonisation, air quality, and
biodiversity:The Spending Round provides additional
funding to accelerate decarbonisation schemes, improve air quality
and to protect and enhance biodiversity. At least £250 million will
also be provided to the international climate and environment
funds, including the Green Climate Fund - the leading fund
dedicated to helping meet the Paris Agreement on climate
change.
Read the full transcript of the Chancellors statement to
Parliament on the 2019 Spending Round.
Further analysis of the Government's Spending Round Document
published alongside the Chancellor's statement shows that the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
settlement includes amongst other things:
- a 2.7% real-term increase to the department's resource budget
from 2019-20 to 2020-21;
- £422 million resource funding to help reduce homelessness and
rough sleeping, including an additional £54 million in 2020-21.
This represents a real-terms increase of 13% compared to
2019-20;
- £24 million additional funding for the Building Safety
Programme to support the new building safety regime. This comes is
in addition to the £600 million of government funding for the
removal of aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding in the
private and social residential sectors;
- continued support to increase home ownership through the Help
to Buy equity loan and other housing programmes, including
providing Homes England with additional funding to deliver more
homes where people need them; and
- continued funding for the Troubled Families programme.
Analysis of the Document shows that the Department of Work &
Pensions (DWP) settlement includes:
- A £106 million package to fund the "Plan for DWP Excellence"
including:
-
- £40 million additional funding for Discretionary Housing
Payments to tackle affordability pressures in the private rented
sector in England and Wales;
- £36 million to ensure DWP decision-making is accurate and the
application processes are straightforward and accessible, as well
as improving safeguarding by creating a new independent Serious
Case Panel;
- £7 million to expand Jobcentre advisor support in schools for
young people with special educational needs and extending
eligibility for Access to Work to internships for disabled people;
and
- £23 million to fund a range of other measures, including
support for vulnerable claimants and people with complex needs
migrating to Universal Credit, additional outreach activities to
support those who are homeless, and increasing the number of Armed
Forces champions to support veterans when entering the labour
market.
Full details of the Government's spending plans can be found in
the Government's Spending Round
document.
The Chancellor's announcement to Parliament on the Spending
Round was to some extent overshadowed later in the day when the
Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost a Commons vote as MPs blocked his
bid to trigger a General Election on 15 October. Nevertheless, most
political commentators believe a General Election at some point in
the next few weeks is almost inevitable and of course the
Chancellor's spending plans could of course be overturned if there
is an incoming government of a different political colour.