SPENDING REVIEW 2025

This week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced Labour’s first Spending Review—a turning point after years of Conservative underinvestment.

Here in the Forest of Dean, that means:

• £23.4 million for Gloucestershire to improve local transport links

• £15.7 million for Two Rivers Housing to make homes warmer and more energy-efficient

• £5.2 million for a wider energy efficiency programme covering low-income homes in the Forest of Dean Constituency

• Free school meals expansion to reach more local children from 2026

• Breakfast clubs funded at Bream C of E Primary and Huntley C of E Primary

• £182,000 for our local green industries

Nationally, Labour is investing in:

• £29 billion for the NHS — new ambulances, scanners, and urgent treatment centres, enabling 4 million extra tests and procedures

• £39 billion over 10 years to deliver 1.5 million affordable homes — the biggest investment in social housing in a generation

• Police funding rising 2.3% a year in real terms — strengthening frontline policing

• £280 million to launch a new Border Security Command tackling small boat crossings

• £200 million to clear the asylum backlog and end the use of costly asylum hotels

• £13.2 billion for warmer homes across the country

• £30 billion for nuclear energy — powering homes and creating skilled jobs, including in Gloucestershire

• Mental health support in all schools by 2030

• 14,000 new prison places

• Defence spending increasing to 2.6% of GDP by 2027

This investment is about tackling the cost of living, delivering better public services, and building stronger foundations for the future.

If you have any questions about these announcements, don’t hesitate to contact me at matt.bishop.mp@parliament.uk.