The end of the summer has been a busy period for politics. The refugee crisis, ongoing EU renegotiation, and Labour’s extraordinary leadership election have dominated the political headlines.
As a result, little attention has been given to preparations for the November Spending Review. The review will define the framework under which this government will operate for the rest of this parliament. It will be the most important political set piece announcement since the election, and possibly of the whole of this parliament. Osborne has softened his pre-election promises on spending cuts, but his fiscal ambitions are still bold. Achieving a surplus by 2019/20 will be tough. Entire programmes will be abandoned. Others will be salami sliced.
In light of this Westminster Advisers has produced a briefing that provides some insight into the political and fiscal context behind the government’s plans, how the Spending Review process actually works, and what we can expect from the final settlement come 25th November. The full briefing is available online here or click on the image below.
