Government Urged to Make 5-year Budgets and Make Priorities Clearer

The government needs to define its priorities better and make five-year spending plans, a think tank said on Thursday. The Institute for Government (IfG) also called on the treasury to not avoid making commitments prematurely and to stick to spending plans once they are set. The recommendations came after Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched a multi-year spending review that will set departmental budgets for at least three years. However, Reeves will only announce plans for for the rest of this financial year and the year 2025–2026 in her first budget on October 30, the chancellor has said. In a report published on Thursday, the IfG said while shorter-term plans are appropriate under some circumstances, such as in 2024 when a change of government was anticipated, Whitehall departments need to get spending plans covering five years as a general rule to reduce uncertainty....