RACHEL Reeves will announce funding for a supercomputer in Edinburgh and a redevelopment of the Faslane nuclear base in her Spending Review on Wednesday.
The review, which will set out day-to-day spending plans for the next three years and capital spending plans for the next four, is also expected to see money for the Acorn carbon capture project near Peterhead.
Charities have urged the Labour Chancellor to go further on tackling child poverty, but no reports have said she will address the issue, instead focusing on funding boosts for the NHS, defence, and schools.
It is likely to involve squeezes for other Government departments as the Chancellor seeks to keep within the fiscal rules she has set for herself.
Her room for manoeuvre has also been further constrained by the Government’s U-turn on Winter Fuel Payments, which will see the benefit paid to pensioners receiving up to £35,000 per year at a cost of around £1.25 billion to the Treasury.
The full details will be revealed in the Commons on Wednesday, but several announcements have already been made.
They include:
- £15.6 billion for public transport projects in England’s city regions.
- £16.7 billion for nuclear power projects, including £14.2 billion for the new Sizewell C power plant in Suffolk.
- £39 billion over the next 10 years to build affordable and social housing.
- £445 million for upgrades to Welsh railways.
- £250 million over three years as part of the first phase of the Faslane nuclear base redevelopment.
- £750 million for a supercomputer in Edinburgh.
The Chancellor is also expected to announce changes to the Treasury’s “green book” rules that govern whether major projects are approved.
The Government hopes that changing the green book will make it easier to invest in areas outside London and the South East.
What time is Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Spending Review?
The Chancellor’s statement is expected to begin at the despatch box at Westminster at around 12.30pm on Wednesday.
It will begin immediately after Prime Minister's Questions, which will take place in the Commons from midday.
How to watch Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Spending Review?
The full statement will be streamed live on the Westminster Parliament’s website. You can find the stream here.
The questions to the Chancellor from MPs will also be shown in full on the Parliament stream
It is also likely that the rolling news channels, such as Sky News and BBC News, will show the Spending Review statement. However, they will normally cut off before showing all of the MPs’ questions.
