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UK Spending Review -
The Chancellor is expected to set out his Spending Review in about 10 minutes following PMQs.
Among the highlights, there will be £3billion more to support the NHS, including £1billion to address treatment backlogs built up while attention was focused on Covid-19 patients.
A new Restart scheme will receive £2.9billion over three years to help more than a million people find jobs. A public sector pay freeze and cuts to overseas aid are also expected.
PMQ's is over - Spending Review starting
He says it “delivers on the priorities of the British people”. He says there will be a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure.
The government is providing £280bn to get the country through Covid Next year £18bn will be spent on testing, PPE and vaccines Over £2bn is being kept on transport, including rail subsidies Over £3bn is going to councils
Overall the public services will get £55bn Sunak says the economy will be 11.3% smaller this year. But it is expected to grow by 5.5% next year, then 6.6%, then 2.3%, then 1.7% and then 1.8%.
But output will not return to pre-crisis levels until the fourth quarter of 2022, he says. Long-term scarring means in 2025 the economy will be around three percent smaller than expected in March Budget.
Sunak says the government is set to borrow £394bn this year - 19% of GDP. That is the highest level of borrowing in peacetime history, he says. Borrowing will remain above £100bn a year for the rest of this parliament, he says
Mr Sunak said underlying debt is forecast to be 91.9 percent of GDP this year and is forecast to continue rising – reaching 97.5 per cent of GDP in 2025/26.
Sunak confirms the government will spend £2.9bn on a Restart employment scheme He says the government will provide a pay rise to doctors and nurses in the NHS. Pay rises in the rest of the public sector will be paused next year.
But people on low pay will get a pay rise. Anyone earning less than the median wage, £24,000, will get a pay rise of £250, he says. He says this means most public sector workers will get a pay rise.
Sunak says the national living wage will rise by 2.2% to £8.91 per hour. Some 2m people will benefit, he says.
Day to day departmental spending will increase by 3.8%, he says. He says that is the fastest cash rise in cash terms in 15 years. The core health budget will grow by £6.6bn, he says.
Sunak announces an extra £2.2bn for schools. And the government will fund more prison places, he says.
Sunak confirms UK will abandon 0.7% target and spent 0.5% of national income on aid next year Says spending so much on international aid is difficult to justify with borrowing so high. But at a time of unprecedented crisis, the government must make tough decisions
He says it will spend 0.5% of national income on aid in 2021 - not 0.7% This will amount to £10bn. He says it will be the government’s intention to return to 0.7%. Even with this target, the UK will still be the second-biggest aid spender in the G7, he says.
Sunak reminds MPs that the government has announced an extra £24bn for defence. Capital spending next yer will be £100bn, he says. He says a new infrastructure strategy is being published today And a new infrastructure bank will be set up.
A new “levelling up” fund worth £4bn is being set up. It will be managed by the Treasury, the transport department and the communities department. It will take a holistic approach, he says. Projects must command local support - including from MPs.
There will also be a new immigration system, and a new planning system, with an emphasis on beautiful homes. And the government will protect free speech, and value jobs.
That's yer lot. Updates were mostly via Guardian and Mirror
