Rachel Reeves is set to outline her spending plans for the next four years with the NHS and defence set for a boost.
While no tax changes will be announced in today’s review, the Chancellor will pledge the health service an annual real terms increase of 2.8 per cent.
However, official modelling suggests the NHS will not hit Labour’s waiting list target despite receiving a budget boost of about £30billion.
Under last year’s manifesto, Labour wanted to hit a routine operations target of treating 92 per cent of patients within 18 weeks.
However, The Times reports that internal Department of Health modelling suggests that the NHS is on course to hit only about 80 per cent by the end of the parliament.
Chief executive of the NHS Confederation Matthew Taylor will warn ministers not to “demand the impossible”, adding: “There are fears that this uplift will not be enough to achieve all the government’s manifesto pledges, including hitting the stretching 92 per cent 18 weeks elective waiting time target by March 2029.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “We continue to make strong progress towards delivering the 18-week standard and are confident we will hit it by the end of the parliament through our Plan for Change.
“We have exceeded our pledge to deliver two million extra operations, scans and appointments, with 3.6 million additional appointments delivered, cutting waiting lists by 200,000 already.”
Meanwhile, while the NHS is set for an uplift, policing and farming are set to see a squeeze.
The Chancellor will say later today: “This Government’s task, my task, and the purpose of this spending review is to change that, to ensure that renewal is felt in people’s everyday lives, their jobs, their communities.”
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Rachel Reeves to say spending review will reflect ‘priorities of working people’
Rachel Reeves will unveil her spending review today, arguing that her priorities are “the priorities of working people.”
The Chancellor is expected to focus on “Britain’s renewal” as she sets out her spending plans for the coming years, with big increases for the NHS, defence and schools.
Among the main announcements is expected to be a £30billion increase in NHS funding, a rise of around 2.8 per cent in real terms, along with an extra £4.5billion for schools and a rise in defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.