Spending Review & Autumn Statement delivers for South West

The Chancellor George Osborne used his Spending Review and Autumn Statement today to set out how he will deliver economic security, national security and opportunity for families across the South West.

The region will benefit from major protections to health, education and defence budgets, while the Chancellor also announced wide-ranging new local investments to support transport and small businesses, and to help families pay less for their water bills.

Announcing £7.2bn to be spent on transport over the next five years, the Chancellor confirmed a £150m investment to take £50 off household water bills helping 750,000 South West households, as well as funding for new flight routes from Exeter and Newquay while he set out the important role the region is playing in helping to rebalance the economy where employment grew by 163,000 and businesses grew by 117,400 there in the last Parliament.

The Chancellor said: “My Spending Review today puts security first. It delivers economic security so Britain lives within its means, financial security for families, and national security for all.

“At the centre of our plans to help working people at every stage of their lives are further investments in schools for our children; a world-class National Health Service; new protections for police and defence budgets and the biggest rise in state pensions since 2001.

“The South West is a key part of that plan and that’s why today I have confirmed major investments there in areas like transport, education, culture as well as driving down the costs of local water bills. This is a Spending Review which delivers for the people of the South West.”

The recent announcement of a devolution deal for Cornwall demonstrated how the government is giving the South West greater control over key areas such as transport, employment and skills and how it is committed to supporting towns and counties to play their part in growing the economy.

The Spending Review also announced significant new powers for local councils, including the power to introduce a social care precept to fund vital services and enabling councils to invest all of the cash they make from selling assets to support local services. Thanks to this, by the end of the Parliament local government will be spending the same in cash terms as it does today. Government will also introduce legislation to give local government 100% retention of business rates, and the power to cut rates to support local businesses and jobs.

Specific to the region, the Chancellor also announced:

£150m to take £50 off households water bills for the next five years helping 750,000 households in the South West
As part of the £7.2bn investment in transport in the South West over the next five years; £2bn will be invested in the A303 and £76m will go to the Kingskerswell Bypass linking Newton Abbot with Torbay. Projects such as the North Devon Link Road could also benefit from £475m Local Majors Scheme, which will allow local areas to bid for funding for large local transport projects that are too expensive to pay for by themselves
Funding for new flight routes from Newquay to Leeds Bradford and Exeter to Norwich
The South West Rail Franchise competition will begin and government will also work with the Peninsula Rail taskforce and other stakeholders to publish a report next year with options to create a dedicated new franchise for Cornwall and Devon
£150 million on 266 flood defence schemes in the South West by 2021 better protecting around 27,300 households
National Parks will be given new powers to allow them to build more sustainable revenue streams so Exmoor and Dartmoor will benefit. Funding for public forests will also be protected - good news for the 91,000 acres of Public Forest Estate land in the South West which includes the Forest Dean and in Devon where growing high-quality timber supports the regional timber processing industry
Through LIBOR funds, an additional £500,000 will support plans to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower in 2020 and £5 million of funding will go to Colston Hall in Bristol
New Enterprise Zones in Heart of the South West, Dorset Green and extension of zones in Bristol and Cornwall/Isle of Scilly
Almost 79,000 small businesses in the South West will also benefit from lower business rates, saving an average of £825 with the extension of the small business rate relief until April 2017
£13m per year over the Parliament in the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change in Exeter in order to support their world-class climate change guidance and research
A new National College for Nuclear will be based in Somerset
The Chancellor also confirmed today the £12 billion promised over this Parliament for the Local Growth Fund, to support the competitive bids councils and local enterprise partnerships have made to back growth in their area