Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, announced the Government’s spending intentions over the course of the next three years.
We welcome the announcement of £39bn capital spending over the course of the next parliament to increase the numbers of affordable houses and homes for social rent. We also welcome increases to spending within the National Health Service and the real terms increase to local authority budgets.
As part of the 2025 Spending Review, the Government also announced important funding for a new ‘Community Help Partnership’ programme, led from Cabinet Office, describing it as:
“a £100 million investment integrated with wider spending across government, representing a fundamental step-change in the government’s support for adults with complex needs. Working closely with local areas to tackle barriers and change incentives, the new community help partnerships will bring together a range of services, providing better support for adults in crisis and reaching vulnerable individuals earlier, before problems escalate.”
This is a welcome development which shows that the Government continues to hold a clear focus on efforts to support people experiencing multiple disadvantage as part of its plans for public service reform. There is however limited information about how this announcement relates to the Changing Futures programme and to areas in the MEAM Approach network. We are engaging with government officials to further understand what this new investment will mean for local areas and collective efforts to support people experiencing multiple disadvantage.