The comprehensive spending review setting out government expenditure plans for the next three years will be delayed from July because of the coronavirus outbreak, chancellor Rishi Sunak has told cabinet.
Mr Sunak and other cabinet colleagues joined the regular Tuesday meeting of cabinet by video conference call, for the first time.
Only prime minister Boris Johnson, health secretary Matt Hancock, cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill and chief medical officer Chris Whitty attended the meeting in 10 Downing Street in person.
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Following Mr Sunak’s first Budget setting out ambitious long-term plans for more than £100bn of investment in infrastructure earlier this month, the comprehensive spending review (CSR) was due to provide detailed plans for how billions of government expenditure will be shared out between Whitehall departments over the coming years.
The keenly-anticipated statement will set out day-to-day “resource” spending for the three years from 2021/22 to 2023/24 and capital budgets for the four years up to 2024/25.
Today’s postponement reflects the uncertainty into which government finances have been thrown by the shutdown of much of the economy and the chancellor’s multi-billion pound bailout forced by the coronavirus outbreak.
No new date was given for the CSR, with ministers told only that it will come “in due course”.
Spending reviews were introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 1998 and have normally set out expenditure plans for the following three years. Mr Sunak’s predecessor as chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced a review for a single year only in 2019, because of uncertainty about how Brexit would play out.
In January, before the threat of coronavirus to the UK’s finances became apparent, Mr Javid ordered cabinet colleagues to draw up a list of projects which could be scrapped to save the equivalent of 5 per cent of their department’s spending.
This month’s Budget stated that the CSR would “prioritise improving public services, levelling up economic opportunity across all nations and regions, strengthening the UK’s place in the world and supporting the government’s ambitions to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050”. It is unclear how much of this programme will have to be torn up in the wake of the damage done to the national finances by Covid-19.
Cabinet received an update from Prof Whitty on the coronavirus outbreak and discussed the actions which the Government is taking to tackle the spread of the virus.
Mr Johnson said it was vital that the public followed the instructions issued by the Government on the need to stay at home and avoid social contacts.
