Chancellor launches Comprehensive Spending Review

21 Jul 2020 01:01 PM

The Chancellor yesterday launched the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). The Review, which will be published in the autumn, will set out the government’s spending plans for the parliament.

The review will set UK Government departments’ resource budgets for the years 2021/22 to 2023/24 and capital budgets for the years 2021/22 until 2024/25, and devolved administrations’ block grants for the same period.

The CSR will prioritise:

Due to unprecedented uncertainty, the Chancellor did not fix a set spending envelope, but confirmed that departmental spending (both capital and resource) will grow in real terms across the CSR period and that the government will deliver on the commitments made at Budget to level up and invest in the priorities of the British people.

Given the impact COVID-19 has had on the economy, the Chancellor was clear there will need be tough choices in other areas of spending at the review. As part of their preparations for the CSR departments have been asked to identify opportunities to reprioritise and deliver savings. Departments will also be required to fulfil a series of conditions in their returns, including providing evidence they are delivering the government’s priorities and focussing on delivery.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, yesterday said:

The first phase of our economic response to coronavirus was about safeguarding employment as far as possible. Our goal in the second phase is to protect, create and support jobs and we set out our plan to achieve this two weeks ago.

The Comprehensive Spending Review is our opportunity to deliver on the third phase of our recovery plan – where we will honour the commitments made in the March Budget to rebuild, level up and invest in people and places spreading opportunities more evenly across the nation.

To help frame the government’s approach at the Spending Review, an interim report of the Net Zero Review will be published this Autumn, followed by a final report in the Spring.

HMT has opened a process for the Comprehensive Spending Review to allow external stakeholders to submit representations.

Further information