‘New Money Helps but Without Reform We Risk Repeating Cycle of Pouring in Funding and Improving Little’
11th Jun 2025
Statement in response to the Chancellor’s 2025 Spending Review – Andrew Webb, Chief Economist at Grant Thornton
“The 2025 Spending Review arrived with Chancellor Reeves still laying the blame for everything at the door of the previous government, but there was a very clear emergence of the core theme she used in preparation for government – ‘securonomics’.
“Essentially, where things are made, and who makes them, matters to a government that wants to see the UK being more self-sufficient so that things like energy shocks cause less havoc in the economy. With securonomics as a core theme, defence spending and energy projects were big winners in the Spending Review. Clearly, though, the major winner was the NHS, receiving a 3% real terms annual increase, which is almost £30 billion per year more by 2028-29.
“From Northern Ireland’s perspective, the headline is a £1 billion annual uplift in day-to-day funding and £220 million in capital. In truth, though, the challenge here runs deeper than a single review can fix.
“Our public services face accumulated pressure – financial, structural, and societal. The Spending Review acknowledges this by calling for reform, but when we look around and see infrastructure deficits in areas such as wastewater that are in the billions of pounds, we know we have a massive task on our hands.
“Our challenges aren’t just money-related. New money helps, but money alone won’t fix planning bottlenecks, staff shortages, or fragmented governance. Northern Ireland needs a structured, long-range recovery plan with investment in the right places, powers aligned with purpose, and a relentless focus on outcomes. Otherwise, we risk repeating the cycle of pouring more money in and improving little.”
