The Chancellor reiterated the government's commitment to maintaining momentum on their infrastructure plans with select multi-year capital settlements.
A number of funding allocations have been announced a number of significant increases in capital spending within his Spending Review 2020. These allocations give funding certainty for existing infrastructure projects as well as targeting investment towards areas which will improve the UK's competitiveness in the longer term – for example by backing new investments in cutting-edge research and clean energy sources of the future. This includes multi-year funding to deliver:
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• a step-change in investment to tackle climate change and deliver the Prime Minister's Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution,1 1 The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, HM Government, November 2020 including funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and new Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) clusters by 2030
• over £58 billion of investment confirmed for road and rail, levelling up across the country
• nearly £20 billion of investment underpinning the government's long-term housing strategy, including £7.1 billion for a National Home Building Fund and confirming over £12 billion for the Affordable Homes Programme
• a multi-billion pound capital investment to deliver the government's commitments on building hospitals, schools and prisons
• a doubling of flood and coastal investment across England investing £5.2 billion over six years
• £1.2 billion to subsidise the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband, as part of the government's £5 billion commitment to support rollout to the hardest to reach areas of the UK
• an ambitious programme of defence modernisation, including funding to develop the next generation of naval vessels, as well as £6.6 billion of R&D funding for areas such as artificial intelligence, future combat air power and other battle-winning technologies.
More information on the Spending Review can be found here.
