Inform techUK policy thinking: Spending Review 2025
Below, we outline the process for members to feed in and inform our policy work.
First, what is a Spending Review?
Spending reviews in the UK are a process by which the Government assesses its public expenditure to allocate and set out public spending plans for Government departments.
Managed by HM Treasury, it typically covers a multi-year period, offering a framework for budgetary planning and implementation. The review aims to align spending with Government priorities, promote efficiency, and ensure fiscal sustainability.
Current (operational) and capital (infrastructure) spending are both reviewed to balance immediate needs and long-term investments. The Spending Review also addresses broader fiscal challenges, including managing public debt and ensuring value for money.
What do we already know from Phase 1 of the Government's Spending Review?
Announced in the most recent Autumn Budget, was an update to the fiscal rules, including an updated Charter for Budget Responsibility, which aims to implement a more stable and transparent framework. This will require spending reviews to be held every two calendar years, and with a minimum duration of three years of the five-year forecast period to ensure public services are always planned over the medium term. The aim is to improve value for money, the planning of public expenditure and provide greater budgetary certainty.
We saw phase 1 of the Spending Review 2025 take place alongside the most recent Autumn Budget on 30 October. A reminder of the key Budget announcements relevant the tech sector can be found via our insight.
Through Phase 1, the Government reset public spending for 2024-25 and set departmental budgets for 2025-26.
For day-to-day spending, the Department for Health and Social Care accounted for around a third of this increase, with the Department for Education accounting for a further 13%. The Scottish Government and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) local government budget each account for a further 5%.
A few departments received decreases in their spending limits between 2023/24 and 2024/25 - for example, the Department for Transport.
What to expect from Phase 2 of the Spending Review...
The Government has outlined they aim to use this Spending Review to deliver a new mission-led, technology-enabled, and reform-driven settlement for public services.
- The Spending Review will set spending plans for a minimum of three years of the five-year forecast period and will conclude in June 2025.
- The submission deadline for industry input to HM Treasury is 9 February 2025.
The Spending Review will hope to restore spending control in the medium term, setting spending policy in line with the Government’s wider fiscal strategy.
There will be a role of the ‘Office for Value for Money’, a time-limited multidisciplinary team, based in the Treasury who will take a ‘task and finish’ approach to its activities. Following the conclusion of the Spending Review next year, the Office will evaluate the effectiveness of systems reforms, and its impact on the wider spending architecture.
Attend member drop-in sessions:
techUK are continuing our policy work to inform our submission into HM Treasury. To ensure that our policy recommendations are robust and member led, members can attend our drop-in calls.
These are open to all members and provide a chance for members to feed in directly. They will take place on:
- Friday 6 December, 11:00 – 12:00. Sign up via the link.
- Friday 10 January, 11:00 - 12:00. Sign up via the link.
Send us your thoughts directly:
Or, should members want to reach out directly via email, you can do so to Samiah or Mia.
techUK look forward to continuing to work with our members and the Government to ensure that the Spending Review leverages the role of the tech sector and digitisation to achieve growth across all regions of the UK.
Neil Ross
Neil Ross
As Associate Director for Policy Neil leads on techUK's public policy work in the UK. In this role he regularly engages with UK and Devolved Government Ministers, senior civil servants and members of the UK’s Parliaments aiming to make the UK the best place to start, scale and develop a tech business.
Neil joined techUK in 2019 to lead on techUK’s input into the UK-EU Brexit trade deal negotiations and economic policy. Alongside his role leading techUK's public policy work Neil also acts as a spokesperson for techUK often appearing in the media and providing evidence to a range of Parliamentary committees.
In 2023 Neil was listed by the Politico newspaper as one of the '20 people who matter in UK tech' and has regularly been cited as a key industry figure shaping UK tech policy.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Twitter:
- @neil13r
- Website:
- www.techuk.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilross13/
Samiah Anderson
Samiah Anderson
Samiah Anderson is the Head of Digital Economy at techUK, overseeing the Digital Economy programme, which promotes how the UK digital economy and innovation can drive sustained economic growth.
With over six years of Government Affairs expertise, Samiah has built a solid reputation as a tech policy specialist, engaging regularly with UK Government Ministers, senior civil servants and UK Parliamentarians.
Before joining techUK, Samiah led several public affairs functions for international tech firms and coalitions at Burson Global (formerly Hill & Knowlton), delivering CEO-level strategic counsel on political, legislative, and regulatory issues in the UK, EU, US, China, India, and Japan. She is adept at mobilising multinational companies and industry associations, focusing on cross-cutting digital regulatory issues such as competition, artificial intelligence, and more.
She holds a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of London, where she founded the New School Economics Society, the Goldsmiths University chapter of Rethinking Economics.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Website:
- www.techuk.org,www.techuk.org
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/samiahnanderson/
Mia Haffety
Mia Haffety
Mia joined techUK in September 2023.
Mia works to ensure that the UK policy and regulatory environment promote investment into the tech sector, recognising the role of digital and emerging technology towards future growth and productivity.
Prior to joining techUK, Mia worked as a Senior Policy Adviser at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) within the Policy Unit.
Mia holds an MSc in International Development from the University of Manchester and a BA(Hons) in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/miahaffety/
