Key public services
announcements in the
Spending Review
Spending Review: Large sums were promised for social care, teaching, policing and Amid the recent Westminster
turmoil it was easy to miss
An extra £1.8
billion for
education,
including
chancellor Sajid Javid’s Spending
Review on 4 September. But public
sector employers were hanging on
his every word, hoping for a sign
that the days of spending freezes
and funding cuts were over.
When Javid stood up and proudly
announced “an end to austerity”, it
no doubt piqued their interest even
more. But not everyone’s convinced
that what followed made good on
this promise.
In total the chancellor pledged a
further £13.8 billion for public
spending, the biggest increase for
15 years. However, it hasn’t gone
unnoticed that there is likely to be
a general election soon. So how
much can employers really read
into these figures?
According to Rebecca George,
lead public sector partner at
Deloitte UK, the Spending Review
was “a necessary stop-gap to set out
funding for the next financial year”.
“It gives reason to be optimistic,”
she continues. “Nine years of
austerity have left parts of the
public sector very stretched, so a
return to spending growth is a
positive step. But beyond this,
what causes greatest concern is
sustainability and certainty. The
government has committed to a
more outcome-focused approach
for the next Spending Review,
which has enormous potential
in prioritising how public money
is spent.”
But even seemingly big wins,
such as teachers’ starting salaries
rising to £30,000 per year, were met
with a lukewarm reception.
Kevin Courtney, joint general
secretary of the National Education
Union, calls the move “a major
shift in government policy on
school funding” that went
“some way to closing the gap” on
teachers’ pay. But he warns that it
remains “significantly short of what
is required.”
Javid also announced an extra
£6.2 billion for day-to-day NHS
spending next year. Following thenchancellor
Philip Hammond
pledging £20 billion (across five
years) in his final Budget in 2018,
it’s another significant funding
boost. For staff there was a
commitment of a £1,000 personal
development budget (over three
years) for every nurse, midwife and
allied health professional.
But is this enough to keep our
creaking health service and its
workforce running smoothly and
out of the hands of the private
sector? Danny Mortimer, chief
executive of NHS Employers,
acknowledges the Spending Review
as “a step in the right direction.”
“The budgets that weren’t
covered in last year’s spending
commitment now see a level of
increase in line with other public
services,” he says. “Our workforce
budget and our capital budget are
seeing an increase of about 3.5%,
which is very welcome.”
He adds: “There was a specific
announcement about postgraduate
training investment in the NHS,
which we’ve been requesting for
some time. So that was positive.”
On the flip side Mortimer
believes even more investment
is needed to prop up a public
sector playing catch-up after years
of underfunding.
“There is a significant backlog of
minimal investment, or even disinvestment,
in many areas of public
service budgets,” he continues.
“And this affects our working
environments – the buildings we
A total of £13.8
billion additional
spending across
2020/21, the
highest increase
All Photographies: AdobeStock
News and analysis Spending Review
increasing teachers’
starting salaries to
£30,000
in 15 years
£750 million for
the police force
next year, to be
used to recruit
20,000 new of cers
An extra £6.2 billion
next year for day-today
spending in
the NHS
£1.5
billion
extra
funding
for social
care
provision
10 HR October 2019 hrmagazine.co.uk
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