Spending review 2025: How much cash will Rachel Reeves give to each government department?

Sky News

3 hours ago

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce how much cash each government department will get over the next few years at the spending review on 11 June.
Last October, Ms Reeves set out departmental budgets for 2025-26, and will now confirm how much each department will get for the remaining years of the parliament, which ends in 2029.
Sky News' politics team takes a look at what may be announced in the spending review.
What could be announced?
Health and social care
How much funding the Department of Health and Social Care will get is one of the most highly anticipated announcements, as due to its size it is set to get nearly 40% of the total day-to-day expenditure on all departments.
How much other departments get depends largely on health and defence.
Two-child benefit cap
After much pressure from his own MPs, Sir Keir and his ministers started softening their previous hard stance on the Conservative-introduced policy that means families cannot claim child benefits for any more than their first two children.
Just a week before the spending review, the PM refused to rule out scrapping it, so this could be announced in the spending review.
There have been reports Ms Reeves could give the go-ahead to a new nuclear power station in Suffolk: Sizewell C.
It would mark the end of a 15-year journey for the project, developed alongside French energy giant EDF, to secure investment for the plant.
The chancellor may also set out details of plans to build small modular reactors (mini nuclear power stations) in England and Wales.
What has the government already announced?
In a show of what is to come, the government has already said that any increase in spending will be relatively modest - and has announced sizeable cuts to some areas, while other departments have got a boost.
Foreign aid
In February, the government announced it will reduce aid spending from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income in 2027 - the lowest level since 1999 - to fund higher defence spending.
Defence spending
Sir Keir Starmer has agreed to increase defence spending from its current 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027 and to 3% in the next parliament, from 2029.
However, NATO chief Mark Rutte wants allies to sign up to 3.5% by 2035, so there are questions about whether the PM will agree to that after his recent hard stance on defence.
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Transport
On 4 June, the chancellor announced £15bn for tram, train and bus infrastructure outside London.
It is part of a £113bn investment in capital projects over the rest of the parliament.
Winter fuel payments
Sir Keir Starmer shocked parliament when he U-turned just weeks before the spending review and said more pensioners will be given the winter fuel payment.
Shortly after Labour won last July's election, they took the universal payment away from most pensioners and made it means-tested.
Ms Reeves is expected to share some information at the spending review about who will receive the payment, but full details will not be revealed until the autumn budget.
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Free school meals
A week before the spending review, the government announced it will be expanding free school meals to all children in households on universal credit, instead of just those in households earning less than £7,400.
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The government said this would mean more than 500,000 more children would be eligible from September 2026, and £1bn has been set aside to pay for it.