LNB NEWS: Spring Budget 2023—key Public Law announcements

In his Budget Statement, the Chancellor announced an extension of Draught Relief from 5% to 9.2% resulting in the duty on a pint served in a pub being lower than the duty in supermarkets. According to HM Treasury, the Draught Relief will be known as the ‘Brexit Pubs Guarantee.’ As reflected in the Chancellor’s Budget Statement, pubs in Northern Ireland will benefit from the Brexit Pubs Guarantee as a result of the Windsor Framework [4.82].  

Defence spending

The Chancellor announced that the government will provide an additional £4.95bn for defence and national security over the next two years [4.6], and £2bn for each year of the forecast period thereafter. As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, this funding is in recognition of the need for deterrence and defence in a deteriorating security environment and reflects the long-term goal to invest 2.5% of GDP in defence. The government’s aim for the funding is to improve the preparedness of the country’s forces, bolster conventional stockpiles, enable early investment for the AUKUS submarine alliance and modernise the nuclear enterprise [2.7].

The Economic Deterrence Initiative will be launched with up to £50m of additional funding over the next two years, with the aim to strengthen the UK’s diplomatic and economic tools and respond to hostile acts by current and future aggressors [4.8].

An additional £33m of funding will be provided over the next three years by the government to increase the service provided to veterans. This includes support for those who obtained serious physical injuries during their service and an increase of the availability of veteran housing [4.7].

Local devolution spending

In addition, the Chancellor announced a suite of local devolution deals to provide new and enhanced powers for mayors and local devolved authorities. As confirmed in the Budget Statement, the government’s devolution deals with the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities have been agreed and will provide those Authorities with additional policy levers [3.114-3.119].

The Budget Statement further confirms that those Authorities will be given single multi-annual funding settlements as part of the government’s devolution deals. The government has stated its support for empowering democratically elected local leaders, which complements its ambition to negotiate further devolution deals, including local investment funding for areas committed to mayors and directly elected leaders [3.114-3.119].

Government Efficiency Framework

As part of the Budget Statement, HM Treasury has committed to developing a new Government Efficiency Framework, which is intended to improve how government departments report efficiency savings whilst ensuring appropriate oversight [2.13].

Funding for devolved administrations

The Chancellor announced in his Budget Statement that the devolved administrations will receive an additional £630m over the next two years through the Barnett formula, in addition to the Spending Review 2021 settlements and the £3.4bn from the Autumn Statement 2022. The Scottish Government will receive £320m, the Welsh Government will receive £180m and the Northern Ireland Executive will receive £130m [2.13]. In cases where measures set out in the Spring Budget do not apply UK-wide, the devolved administrations will receive additional funding from the government, calculated through the Barnett formula and in line with any respective fiscal frameworks [4.2].

Source: Spring Budget 2023

Written by John Bell and Emily Robinson

This content was first published by LNB News / Lexis®Library, a LexisNexis® company, on 15 March 2023 and is published with permission. Further information can be found at: www.lexisnexis.co.uk.