Rachel Reeves spending review live - when it starts and what to expect
Rachel Reeves will deliver her long-anticipated spending review on Wednesday after weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling.
The Chancellor is set to announce billions of pounds will be spent on the NHS, schools and tech - but other areas are expected to face painful cuts. Ms Reeves will unveil her plans at around 12.30pm following Prime Minister's Questions.
Among the headline announcements will be a 2.8% hike to the Department of Health's annual budget and an £86billion package of funding into research areas.
Unlike Budgets, Spending Reviews have no legal basis. Instead, they set out what the Government intends to do with its spending plans over the following years.
There will be no tax changes in the Spending Review as these require new legislation. When the Chancellor presents the Budget, all the measures on taxation are contained in an annual Finance Bill. Parliament debates the Budget and scrutinises the Finance Bill. This does not happen with a Spending Review.
It means some announcements - including the winter fuel payment U-turn - might be mentioned at the Spending Review. But details on exactly where the money will come from to pay for the policy are not expected until the Autumn Budget later this year.
One of the biggest winners of Wednesday's Spending Review is expected to be the science and technology sector, which will get an £86billion package of funding into research areas, including into new drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries.
The health service is also expected to be a big winner, with a 2.8% hike to the Department of Health's annual budget - amounting to around £30billion in additional funding by 2028/29. The Mirror understands schools will also get a major boost to per pupil funding, with £4.5billion extra for the core schools budget. This includes a major expansion of free school meals to 500,000 more pupils.
The Ministry of Justice, which was one of the first departments to settle its budget, will see a £4.7billion funding injection to build three new prisons amid an ongoing overcrowding crisis in jails. The Ministry of Defence also already had a clearer idea of its funding settlement, with the PM having earlier this year announced plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with an aim to get it to 3% by 2034.
Some £15.6billion will also be handed to mayors for major transport projects across the country. This will go towards plans to improve trams, trains and buses in the North and the Midlands.
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