A proposed real-terms cut to capital budgets risks exacerbating school maintenance backlogs and shows the government does “not care about the state of school buildings”, a union leader has said.
The government has only met its target to show debt will fall by “pretending” certain measures, including the fuel duty freeze, will end this year, economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have...
Additional funding to maintain and improve the NHS estate would play an important role in improving performance and productivity and stop staff working around a huge backlog, researchers have said.
A proposal to freeze council tax next year risks “compounding councils’ ongoing underfunding”, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has warned while criticising the lack of engagement with...
The government might lose around £15bn a year by 2032 if it decides to ditch inheritance tax, economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have warned.
A growing share of income coming from wealth and property is set to widen inequality between households and hurt social mobility, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.
The long-awaited NHS long-term workforce plan will fail to meet ambitious productivity targets without sustained investment in capital, technology and management, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has...
The government’s failure to distribute local police, public health and council funding according to differing levels of need risks worsening regional inequalities, working contrary to its supposed...
Government spending has become more progressive in recent decades, but current plans have put this trend in jeopardy, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said.
The improved teachers’ pay offer will do little to reverse the real-terms cut to salaries since 2010, researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have said amid strike action.
Higher life expectancy could see pension and social care costs exceed more than a quarter of government spending over the long term, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.
New gloomy predictions of long-term economic growth suggest pensions promised to public sector workers will be more costly than anticipated, economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have warned.
Scottish Government proposals for increasing taxes on higher earners to fund more generous benefits are more progressive than the rest of the UK, but are at risk of being avoided, the Institute for...
Scottish ministers have overstated the level of funding in the 2023-24 draft budget, after falling to account for top-ups in this year’s budget, economists have claimed.
The lack of additional support for early years and post-16 education will stretch resources further as historically high inflation eats into budgets, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said.
Autumn Statement plans to keep public bodies’ spending tight from 2025 onwards are unlikely to actually be followed when the time comes, economists have said.
The government’s flagship policy is at risk of failure without more targeted funding for schools, local authorities and public health, economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have said.
The public sector could be set for an exodus of workers if the government fails to compensate departments for higher-than-expected pay offers, according to economists at the Institute for Fiscal...
Income tax bands not rising in line with inflation will eclipse the benefit households might expect from tax cuts, meaning the government is effectively “giving with one hand and taking with the...
The Treasury has confirmed that the government will stick to the current funding settlement for departments, despite concerns over the impact of inflation on budgets.
