Day-to-day spending on the NHS will increase by £29bn a year, Rachel Reeves has announced as she accepted voters are yet to feel an improvement under Labour.
Delivering her spending review, the chancellor also declared an end to the use of asylum hotels this parliament by investing in cutting the backlog and returning more people with no right to be here – which she said would save the taxpayer £1bn a year.
Politics live: Reaction to spending review
Ms Reeves acknowledged that almost 12 months on from Labour’s landslide election victory, “too many people” are yet to feel their promise of national renewal.
She said the purpose of her spending review is “to change that”, with total departmental budgets to grow by 2.3% a year in real terms until 2028-29.
Key settlements include:
• NHS: The health service gets £29bn for day-to-day spending – a 3% rise for each year until the next election;
• Housing: £39 billion over the next 10 years to build affordable and social housing;
• Defence: Spending will rise from 2.3% of GDP to 2.6% by 2027, made up of an £11bn uplift on defence and £600m for security and intelligence agencies;
• Science and tech: Research and development funding will hit £22bn with AI plans getting £2bn;
• Transport: £15bn for new rail, tram, and bus networks in the North and the West Midlands, a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester, and a four-year settlement for TfL, plus the £3 bus fare cap extended to 2027;
• Nations: Scotland gets £52bn, Northern Ireland £20bn, and Wales £23bn, including for coal tips;
• Education: Free school meals extended to…
