Media responses to the budget have generally focused on a few headline items and on the fact that there were few big ones. But there was a record number of apparently modest policy announcements (the Institute for Government counted over 90). Some may be symbolic indicators or first steps in a longer-term direction of travel; some address small issues which matter to particular groups. Here we identify ten which our readers might have missed: in no particular order.
Devolving taxes
As part of its major initiative to transfer power out of Whitehall, the Government intends to devolve funding from central government to mayors and strategic authorities, moving local government funding from Whitehall grants toward locally retained tax revenues. This will represent the biggest shake-up of local government finance for many years.
The Government expects that all of England will be covered by devolution agreements by the end of 2028 and the new Fiscal Devolution Roadmap lays out the Government’s plans to do this.
To provide incentives for local leaders to help businesses to start and grow, from 2027, 20% of business rates will go to mayors and a share of income tax receipts will be added from 2028.
There will also be £285mn of Good Growth Funds in 2027/28, comprising £165mn for mayoral areas and £120mn for places moving toward devolution or strategic authority status. From April 2028 mayoral and strategic authorities will have access to a new £1.5bn borrowing facility.
A new focus on prevention
Short term pressures often lead to cuts in programmes whose impact is not immediately obvious. Public health programmes, for example, may seem less urgent, but if they reduce demand for much more expensive hospital services they can result in major savings.
To protect such programmes, in the 2027 Spending Review, there will be a new Preventative Departmental Expenditure Limit – a protected budget category for prevention, recorded and measured by Departments and separated from day-to-day spending. This has the potential to transform how Departments manage their budgets.
Strengthening social housing
The Government is committed to a major expansion of social housing. To get more council homes built, the budget extends cheaper borrowing for councils and makes all land sold to social housing providers VAT-free. An additional £1.5bn is being allocated to the Social and Affordable Housing Programme, taking the total government commitment to council housing to £40bn.
Funding the energy transition
The transition from a fossil fuel to renewable-based economy raises many issues, including the retraining of workers.
A new Energy Wealth Fund, based within the larger National Wealth Fund, is designed to address this. It will invest in renewable energy and low carbon infrastructure across the UK, support the green transition, attract private investment, create skilled jobs and build a longer-term national asset.
The Fund has been given start-up funding of £2bn, which will grow as North Sea oil and gas tax revenues are added. This means that the revenue from current oil and gas exploitation will fund the transition, rather than simply being swallowed by the Exchequer.
Better management of electricity
The transition to a predominantly electricity-based energy economy faces challenges in how and where to generate electricity and how to distribute it. Projects often cause public protest and not all approved projects deliver real benefits.
So, in future, the Government will only buy and build new electricity generation projects when they lower bills and when they can connect to the grid.
GB Grid will be used to build cheaper, faster grid connections and the Government will reform the complex web of institutions that govern the system.
The Government plans to reform the way electricity prices are set. Because all electricity prices are currently set through an auction process, British electricity prices are set by the global gas market, although renewable electricity is much cheaper to generate than electricity from gas-fired power stations. The Government plans to replace the auction process for renewables with fixed price contracts. This aims to provide a stable and predictable financial base for renewable generators and reduce prices for consumers.
Managing data centre development
Data centres are economically important and Slough is now the second largest data centre complex in the world. But they are politically contentious.
The new British Data Centre Covenant aims to tackle the political concerns. It will offer strategically important data centres faster grid connections and planning support in return for commitments on community benefits, water use, energy costs, jobs and UK AI supply chains. Where necessary, developers will be allowed to build on-site generation while they wait for grid connection. The Government also intends to ensure that sensitive UK data is held in the UK and not on servers exposed to foreign control.
Supporting women in business
Women face a variety of barriers in the tech sector, with only 2% of venture capital investment going to businesses founded by women. A study for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) estimated the loss to the economy at £16bn.
The Government’s Women in Tech Taskforce has made recommendations on how to rectify this, and the Government is launching several initiatives to support female business founders.
NewTech Forward and Inclusive Investment standards will promote more inclusive employment and investment practices, alongside a new scale-up women’s programme to help women founders overcome barriers to fundraising and growth. The Tech Forward Standard is being developed by the Government and its Women in Tech Taskforce to address discrimination, harassment and barriers to career progression in the UK tech sector.
Supporting young entrepreneurs
There are young people with good potential business ideas but who lack the finance to start up.
A new pilot scheme, the Young Entrepreneurs Allowance, will provide successful applicants with support towards their living costs during the first year of their business.
Strengthening the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation (GCDC)
In order to overcome the constraints that have limited growth in one of the UK’s most economically significant regions, GCDC was established in July as a statutory body covering Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire. Its “infrastructure first” growth model gives it powers over land assembly, infrastructure delivery and financial/investment activity.
The budget gives the Development Corporation access to substantial funding. This includes new powers to borrow against its assets and repay debt from land value uplift and development contributions. There will be a £215mn boost for the Corporation itself, comprising £105mn in repayable finance and £110mn in capital grants for housing and infrastructure. The repayable element is effectively a form of public borrowing/investment that GCDC would be expected to repay as development proceeds.
The funds can be used for high street and town centre regeneration; improving transport links and local infrastructure; new housing; and local business, innovation and skills-related growth priorities.
Tackling violence against women and girls
The Government laid out its ambition to halve violence against women and girls in 2025.
The budget announced a new Misogyny Prevention Fund which will provide £15mn over three years to prevent misogynistic attitudes and improve outcomes and safety for women and girls. The fund will support projects such as mentoring for young people; workplace training; communications campaigns to improve women’s and girls’ safety; prevention work in schools, workplaces and communities.
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