By Clemency Lion, Director of Research, Policy and Communications at ukactive
On 30 October, Rachel Reeves will deliver the Labour Government’s first Autumn Budget, alongside a Spending Review to cover the remainder of this financial year, and the year 2025-26. This fiscal event will be followed by a multi-year Spending Review taking place in Spring 2025, expected to cover a further three years from 2026 to at least 2029.
Reeves will use the Budget to set out a raft of tax decisions, while the Spending Reviews will set the spending limits for each government department for the periods stated above.
It has been widely reported that this is likely to be a challenging fiscal event. Both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have stated on multiple occasions that there are difficult decisions to be made in order to plug what they have calculated to be a £22bn black hole in the public finances.
News of some of those challenging decisions has already been trickling through over the past few weeks, such as the reports of rises in National Insurance Contributions for employers.
It doesn’t seem the outlook is much better for the Spending Review, with suggestions of Government infighting among members of the Cabinet unhappy to have their spending allocations squeezed with so many challenges in their in-trays.
So, expectations for next week’s Budget are low, but what is happening outside of this event to address the nation’s issues and achieve the Five Missions set out by the Prime Minister in his manifesto?
Consultations! After a slow and scandal-ridden first 100 days, Cabinet Ministers are upping the ante, launching a number of large-scale consultations on some of their flagship policy areas in quick succession. Workers’ Rights, Industrial Strategy and NHS 10 year plan are some of the big titles they have asked for business and public feedback on. While some of these request thoughts and challenges on specific policy proposals, others ask for ideas for the Government to presumably take into their “Mission Delivery Boards” as they adopt a cross-government approach to achieving their goals.
But how will these ‘Boards’ work? Comprised of a selection of Cabinet Ministers and chaired by the relevant Secretary of State, the missions will focus on what the Government has deemed the nation’s highest priority challenges: growth, energy, education, health and safer streets. In this way, a cross-government approach is adopted, with all present focussed on achieving their shared mission.
The Mission Delivery Boards will be complemented by mission leads for each region, who, while not sitting on the boards, act like Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs) in coordinating efforts across departments. Civil servants contribute by providing data, drafting policies, and coordinating implementation across departments, ensuring policies are both practical and evidence based.
For the sector, there are positive signs – the areas of priority for the Government are clearly set out, and the physical activity sector is poised to help deliver a number of them. However, several months into this Government, it is still unclear exactly how these mission boards will integrate external voices or be held accountable. Despite the lack of transparency, optimism remains that this will begin to be addressed after the Budget, with ukactive poised to escalate engagement and put physical activity and the sector at the heart of the Government’s agenda.
In summary, the Budget on 30 October will be an important moment, but it is not the only show in town. It is likely to represent a challenging time for the country as a whole, and ukactive will continue to support members with analysis and intervention where required.
However, there is still reason to be optimistic about the medium-term ambitions of this ‘mission-led Government’ which have the potential to open the doors of opportunity and growth for our sector.
ukactive and the National Sector Partners Group will be responding to the Government’s Budget following the statement next Wednesday 30 September. ukactive members will also receive an analysis of what the Budget means for them in the following days.
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