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The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has welcomed the Chancellor’s confirmation that regular spending reviews and longer-term planning and spending plans will be re-introduced.
Yesterday (29 July) the Chancellor addressed the House of Commons with a pledge to “restore economic stability” after revealing £22 billion of unfunded pressures inherited from the previous Government.
The pledge includes the decision to find £5.5bn of savings this year and £8.1bn next year, as well as ensuring that spending reviews are set every two years to cover a three-year period.
Following the announcement, CIPFA has welcomed the government’s commitments to transparency and the incorporation of spending pressures for the current and the next year in OBR assessments linked to the budget.
The global professional body has said that ongoing financial pressures continue to affect public services and that the impacts of high inflation over the last two years have also led to sustained increases in costs that are not reducing even as inflation returns to lower levels.
In an official statement CIPFA said: “Difficult decisions to deal with in-year budget gaps are needed but these difficult decisions must not repeat the experience of previous years where cuts to frontline public services had widespread negative impacts on service users and communities. Such cuts also devastated investment in the sort of early intervention and preventative services that can improve outcomes, reduce costs in the long run and unlock greater value for money.
“As part of the Chancellor’s plan to provide in-year and next year control totals at the Autumn budget on 30 October ahead of a longer-term spending review, CIPFA welcomes the focus on investment in prevention, integration and technologies. We hope the recognition of in-year pressures that featured so prominently in the Chancellor’s statement will not lead to damaging cuts to services already reeling from ongoing budget deficits.”
