Video: Six key takeaways from Rachel Reeves’ spring statement

Key takeaways from Rachel Reeves' spring statementReuters

Transcript

00:00The universal credit standard allowance will increase from £92 per week in 2025-26

00:05to £106 a week by 2029-30,

00:09while the universal credit health element will be cut for new claimants by around 50% and then frozen.

00:15I am pleased that the OBR confirmed today

00:19that real household disposable income will now grow this year

00:24at almost twice the rate expected in the autumn.

00:29Compared to the forecast in the final budget delivered by the party opposite,

00:33and after taking into account inflation,

00:37the OBR say today that people will be on average

00:41over £500 a year better off under this Labour government.

00:46Today I am reflecting two steps that we have taken on our spending plans.

00:51First, because we are living in an uncertain world,

00:54as the Prime Minister has set out,

00:56we will increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP,

01:00reducing overseas aid to 0.3% of gross national income.

01:05Today I go further,

01:07continuing our investment in cutting-edge technology,

01:10investing in the HMRC's capacity to crack down on tax avoidance,

01:15and setting out plans to increase the number of tax frauds discharged every year by 20%.

01:20These changes raise a further £1 billion,

01:23taking the total revenue raised from reducing tax evasion

01:27under this Labour government to £7.5 billion.

01:32We are investing £1 billion to provide guaranteed,

01:36personalised employment support to help people back into work,

01:41and £400 million to support the Department for Work and Pensions

01:45and our jobcentres to deliver these changes effectively and fairly,

01:50taking total savings after that to the package to £3.4 billion.

01:55Today I build on that work by bringing forward £3.25 billion of investment

02:01to deliver the reforms that our public services need

02:04through a new transformation fund.

02:07That is money brought forward now

02:09to bring down the costs of running government by the end of the forecast period,

02:14by making public services more efficient,

02:17more productive, and more focused on the user.

02:21I can confirm today the first allocations from this fund,

02:24including funding for voluntary exit schemes to reduce the size of the civil service,

02:30pioneering AI tools to modernise the state,

02:34investment in top technology for the Ministry of Justice

02:37to deliver probation services more effectively,

02:40and upfront investment so we can support more children into foster care

02:45to give them the best possible start in life and reduce cost pressures in the future.