UK

Spending review delivers big boosts for health and defence – but Rachel Reeves is focused on investment

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered the government’s spending review, setting out its plans and priorities for the next three years. The aim of the review is of course to allocate spending over that time period – but this government is keen for economic growth and so has directed the funds to try to boost GDP. This approach could work but is particularly challenging in an uncertain global environment.

Where should governments spend your money? The impossible maths of political and moral decisions

Whenever the UK government decides to spend public money on a new project, it needs to weigh up the costs against the value of the benefits it hopes to achieve. And it’s rarely a simple calculation.

This is why Chancellor Rachel Reeves is changing the Treasury’s “green book” of rules which dictate how investment plans are made. Those rules, and the calculations they support, do not always work.

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