Aylesbury MP: Spending review shows Conservatives’ commitment to fight COVID-19 and deliver for local people

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Aylesbury MP, Rob Butler, has welcomed today’s Spending Review which provides billions of pounds in the fight against coronavirus, delivers on the Conservatives’ promises to the British people and invests in the UK’s recovery.

Rob said:
“Today’s Spending Review is a huge investment in local people’s lives and livelihoods in Aylesbury; it’s the next stage of the unprecedented financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and takes crucial steps for our future economic recovery.

“The Chancellor has set out an ambitious plan that focuses on levelling up across the country, investing in infrastructure that will ensure the UK builds back better from coronavirus. This brings great opportunities for Aylesbury and the surrounding area, and I will be pushing hard for us to benefit fully from the spending announced by the Government”.

The Spending Review confirmed:

  • A further £55 Billion to help with our response to coronavirus – including £18 billion for mass testing, Test and Trace, PPE and vaccines, and £3 billion to support NHS recovery.
  • A funding boost for the NHS. Next year, the health budget will grow by £6.6 billion, allowing us to deliver 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP appointments.
  • More money for schools, meaning every pupil in the country will see a year-on-year funding increase of at least 2 per cent.
  • £400 million to recruit 6,000 new police officers – meaning we are on track to meet our manifesto pledge to recruit 20,000 more police officers by 2023.
  • More than £24 billion investment in defence – the biggest sustained increase in 30 years – allowing us to provide security not just for our country but around the world.
  • An increase in core spending power for local authorities by an estimated 4.5 per cent, along with over £3 billion of additional coronavirus support and an extra £254 million of funding to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
  • Capital spending of £100 billion next year, meaning vital investment in roads, rail, hospitals, schools, broadband and housing.
  • A new Levelling Up Fund, worth £4 billion in England and £800 million in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to build the infrastructure of everyday life.
  • A new National Infrastructure Strategy, and a new UK infrastructure bank -headquartered in the north of England – to work with the private sector to finance major new investment projects across the UK.

Rob continued:
“Alongside the fantastic investment nationally in the NHS, schools, the police and our communities, I was very pleased to see the continued commitment to spending on infrastructure with the launch of the new £4bn Levelling Up Fund.

“This fund will seek to further improve local high streets and town centres across the country, and as Aylesbury has excellent proposals for regeneration and to improve roads, cycleways and walking routes, I will be actively supporting local bids.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak MP said:
“Today’s Spending Review delivers the priorities of the British people. Our health emergency is not yet over, and the economic emergency has only just begun; so our immediate priority is to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.

“But today’s Spending Review also delivers stronger public services – paying for new hospitals, better schools and safer streets. And it delivers a once-in-a-generation transformation in our approach to infrastructure: creating jobs, growing the economy, and increasing pride in the places people call home.”