NHS to Receive £30 Billion Funding Boost Amidst Spending Review

By Amelia Green | LONDON – 2025/06/07 19:05:57

The NHS is slated to receive a £30bn funding increase in the upcoming spending review, potentially impacting other public services.

The Department of Health is expected to be a primary beneficiary, with a projected 2.8% increase in its day-to-day spending budget over three years, totaling £30bn by 2028.

Reports indicate this amounts to a £17bn real-terms increase.

This financial boost may come at the expense of other public services, including policing and local councils, which could face real-terms cuts during the spending review.

Government ministers intend to highlight the increased health spending, alongside plans for more than £100bn in capital investment, as central to thier public message this week.

Keir Starmer has pledged that by the next election, 92% of patients in England waiting for planned treatment will be seen within 18 weeks of being referred. Current data suggests about 60% of people are seen within this timeframe.

Recent figures indicate that the overall number of patients on NHS waiting lists has slightly increased from 6.24 million to 6.25 million.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has acknowledged the necessity of declining funding requests from various departments due to the current economic constraints. She stated that she blames Conservatives and has declined to reassess her self-imposed rules on borrowing and spending.

Speaking in Manchester this week, the chancellor said despite a £190bn increase in funding over the spending review period “not every department will get everything that they want next week and I have had to say no to things that I want to do too”. The Foreign Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport are anticipated to experience some of the most significant reductions.

Economists have warned that the chancellor faces “unavoidably” tough choices when she sets out the departmental spending plans. The Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank has indicated that defence and the NHS will be the primary focus on 11 June.

The Home Office has been actively seeking additional funding, with Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, cautioning that cuts could impede progress on the prime minister’s objectives of halving knife crime and violence against women and girls.

Senior police officials, including Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police service, directly informed Starmer in a letter this week that they would face “stark choices” regarding which crimes to investigate if the Treasury proceeds with the proposed cuts.

one area where the Home Office has aimed to reduce expenditure is on hotels to temporarily house asylum seekers in the UK.

However, recent data reveals that the department intends to allocate approximately £2.2bn of foreign aid to support asylum seekers this financial year, slightly less than the £2.3bn spent in 2024-2025.

Asylum seekers and their families are housed in temporary accommodation while awaiting the outcome of their claim or appeal, provided they have been assessed as unable to support themselves independently. International regulations permit countries to classify initial refugee support costs as overseas development assistance.

As of the end of March this year, 32,345 asylum seekers were temporarily housed in UK hotels, a 15% decrease from the end of December.The Home Office stated it was “urgently taking action to restore order and reduce costs,” which would decrease the expenditure on supporting asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.

Impact of NHS Funding Increase

The allocation of additional funds to the NHS is expected to address critical areas such as reducing waiting lists and improving overall healthcare services. Though, the potential cuts to other public services raise concerns about the broader societal impact.

“not every department will get everything that they want next week and I have had to say no to things that I want to do too”

Understanding the Spending Review