Spending on government departments will fall in 2022-23

Spending on government departments will fall in 2022-23, forcing government to make some ‘challenging’ decisions about funding public services, according to the government's fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Day-to-day departmental spending is set to be £13bn lower in 2022-23, and £16bn lower in 2024-25, relative to the plans announced last March. The majority of that was announced in November, but today’s Budget saw further cuts, including another £3.3bn reduction in 22-23. Given commitments to increase spending on schools, health, defence and overseas aid, that would mean a 1% cut (after inflation) to other government departments.

If spending on overseas aid were returned to the 0.7% level promised in the Conservative manifesto, non-protected departments would see a 2.8% cut.

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