London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Feb 07, 2026

Autumn budget 2021: Rishi Sunak unveils new spending pledges including £5bn for health research and innovation and £3bn for skills education

Autumn budget 2021: Rishi Sunak unveils new spending pledges including £5bn for health research and innovation and £3bn for skills education

Rishi Sunak says he will do "whatever it takes" to support families feeling the pinch of higher prices - but critics warned that much of the funding would only reverse cuts by previous Conservative-led governments.
The chancellor has announced a series of spending pledges ahead of the autumn budget this week, which include £5bn for health research and innovation and £3bn for education.

Rishi Sunak has promised to do "whatever it takes" to support families with the cost of living, as he pre-empts Wednesday's address in the House of Commons.

Among his promises are:

• £1.4bn to encourage foreign investment into UK businesses and attract overseas talent

• £700m to be spent mainly on the new post-Brexit borders and immigration system, as well as a new maritime patrol fleet

• £435m for victims services, crime prevention and the Crown Prosecution Service

• £560m for adult maths coaching to help increase numeracy

• a six-month extension to the COVID recovery loan scheme to June 2022

Writing in the Sun on Sunday ahead of an appearance on Sky's Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Mr Sunak said: "I know that families here at home are feeling the pinch of higher prices… we will continue to do whatever it takes, we will continue to have your backs - just like we did during the pandemic."

However, he warned of potential pain, saying there would be "challenges" ahead to get public finances "back onto a strong footing".

Luke Sibieta, a research fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said that much of the funding would only reverse cuts by previous Conservative-led governments.

"We've seen the government announce extra funding for adults to get A-level equivalent qualifications, which is funding that was already available up until about 10 years ago," he said.

"So it's just bringing back what was there already to some extent."

There are also calls from Labour for the chancellor to remove VAT from domestic energy bills from 5% to zero for six months in order to help families this winter.

The party said the cut could be funded by higher than expected VAT receipts this year.

And the Liberal Democrats want Mr Sunak to make funding to end the cladding crisis a major focus.

The Treasury said the £5bn for health-related research and development will be provided over the next three years, with investment rising to £2bn per year by 2024 - a 57% cash increase since before the pandemic.

A total of £95m of the funding will be aimed at increasing uptake of cutting-edge innovations in the NHS and addressing cancer, obesity and mental health.

A UK-wide trial of COVID-19 antiviral treatments will receive £33m, while £40m will be spent on research in social care reform, £30m on investing in research skills and training, and £20m on research in climate change and health.

Financial support will be given for genome sequencing technology that can detect over 200 conditions in newborns, compared with existing tests that can just identify nine - potentially saving 3,000 babies per year, according to the Treasury.

The £3bn "skills revolution" funding will be used for post-16 education and to help adults looking to upskill and retrain.

Some £1.6bn of the skills education funding will be used to provide extra classroom hours for up to 100,000 16 to 19-year-olds studying for T-levels - technical-based qualifications.

The Treasury will also create 24,000 traineeships and use £550m to quadruple the number of places on skills boot camps in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and nuclear.

Existing colleges in England will receive £830m with extra funding for new equipment and facilities.

Apprenticeship funding will rise by £170m to £2.7bn in 2024-25, while free Level 3 courses - equivalent to A-levels - will be expanded in subjects like maths, chemistry, and biology.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the investment, but said the pledge is "sketchy" and "appears to be limited in scope".

He said funding is also needed in schools, early years and for young people who do A-levels, BTECs and qualifications other than T-levels.

The £1.4bn business investment funding will hand out grants to encourage international companies to invest in the UK's critical industries, including life sciences and automotive.

This includes £354m to support investment in life sciences manufacturing, increasing resilience for future pandemics, and more than £800m for the production and supply chain of electric vehicles - including in the North East and Midlands.

To help overseas recruitment in the UK's science and tech sectors, a "talent network" will be set up in the Bay Area of San Francisco and Boston in the US in 2022, and also Bengaluru in India - places the Treasury described as "innovation hotspots".

By 2023, the programme will be expanded to six countries, targeting universities, research institutions and innovation hubs.

The Treasury's previous pledges include a new £500m fund to support those struggling with the cost of living over the winter.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The Implications of Expanding Voting Rights to Non-EU Foreign Residents in France
Ghislaine Maxwell to Testify Before US Congress on February 9
Al.com Acquired by Crypto.com Founder for $70 Million
Apple iPhone Lockdown Mode blocks FBI data access in journalist device seizure
Belgium: Man Charged with Rape After Faking Payment to Sex Worker
KPMG Urges Auditor to Relay AI Cost Savings
US and Iran to Begin Nuclear Talks in Oman
Winklevoss-Led Gemini to Slash a Quarter of Jobs and Exit European and Australian Markets
Canada Opens First Consulate in Greenland Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions
China unveils plans for a 'Death Star' capable of launching missile strikes from space
NASA allows astronauts to take smartphones on upcoming missions to capture special moments.
Trump administration to launch TrumpRx.gov for direct drug purchases
Investigation Launched at Winter Olympics Over Ski Jumpers Injecting Hyaluronic Acid
U.S. State Department Issues Urgent Travel Warning for Citizens to Leave Iran Immediately
Wall Street Erases All Gains of 2026; Bitcoin Plummets 14% to $63,000
Epstein Case Documents Reignite Global Scrutiny of Political and Business Elites
Eighty-one-year-old man in the United States fatally shoots Uber driver after scam threat
UK Royal Family Faces Intensifying Strain as Epstein-Linked Revelations Rock the Institution
Political Censorship: French Prosecutors Raid Musk’s X Offices in Paris
AI Invented “Hot Springs” — Tourists Arrived and Were Shocked
Tech Mega-Donors Power Trump-Aligned Fundraising Surge to $429 Million Ahead of 2026 Midterms
UK Pharma Watchdog Rules Sanofi Breached Industry Code With RSV Vaccine Claims Against Pfizer
Melania Documentary Opens Modestly in UK with Mixed Global Box Office Performance
Starmer Arrives in Shanghai to Promote British Trade and Investment
Harry Styles, Anthony Joshua and Premier League Stars Among UK’s Top Taxpayers
New Epstein Files Include Images of Former Prince Andrew Kneeling Over Unidentified Woman
Starmer Urges Former Prince Andrew to Testify Before US Congress About Epstein Ties
Starmer Extends Invitation to Japan’s Prime Minister After Strategic Tokyo Talks
Skupski and Harrison Clinch Australian Open Men’s Doubles Title in Melbourne
DOJ Unveils Millions of Epstein Files, Fueling Global Scrutiny of Elite Networks
France Begins Phasing Out Zoom and Microsoft Teams to Advance Digital Sovereignty
China Lifts Sanctions on British MPs and Peers After Starmer Xi Talks in Beijing
Trump Nominates Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair to Reorient U.S. Monetary Policy Toward Pro-Growth Interest Rates
AstraZeneca Announces £11bn China Investment After Scaling Back UK Expansion Plans
Starmer and Xi Forge Warming UK-China Ties in Beijing Amid Strategic Reset
Tech Market Shifts and AI Investment Surge Drive Global Innovation and Layoffs
Markets Jolt as AI Spending, US Policy Shifts, and Global Security Moves Drive New Volatility
U.S. Signals Potential Decertification of Canadian Aircraft as Bilateral Tensions Escalate
Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to 20 Months for Bribery
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
China Executes 11 Members of the Ming Clan in Cross-Border Scam Case Linked to Myanmar’s Lawkai
Trump Administration Officials Held Talks With Group Advocating Alberta’s Independence
Starmer Signals UK Push for a More ‘Sophisticated’ Relationship With China in Talks With Xi
Shopping Chatbots Move From Advice to Checkout as Walmart Pushes Faster Than Amazon
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
×