Spending Review

They were first introduced in the late 1990s in order to make it easier for departments to plan their spending over a longer time period than one year. The current SR will cover the next four years from 2011/12 to 2014/15.

Chancellor George Osborne MP delivered his Spending Review to the House of Commons on 20 October, unveiling plans to cut £7bn from the welfare budget – this is on top of £11bn cuts already announced earlier this year. He claimed that the total £81bn in cuts over the course of the Spending Review period - the biggest since the 1970s - would “bring Britain back from the brink of bankruptcy”.

The Chancellor stated that the decisions taken as part of the SR were based on three principles: reform, fairness and growth. Responding to the statement, Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnston MP said that the SR represents “the deepest cuts in living memory” and are a “reckless gamble” with the economy. He went on to challenge the chancellor's claim that the cuts were a necessary response to Britain's financial situation, saying: "It is not unavoidable and it is certainly not fair.”

In its analysis of the chancellor's spending review, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the package of cuts would reinforce the "regressive" nature of the government's plans to tackle the deficit, including the £7bn of welfare cuts. Carl Emmerson, the IFS acting director, said: "Our analysis continues to show that, with the notable exception of the richest 2%, the tax and benefit components of the fiscal consolidation are, overall, being implemented in a regressive way." In other words, the cuts will hit the poorest members of our society hardest.

What Age NI are doing

Age NI have been preparing for the Spending Review for many months by lobbying departmental financial directors and senior staff, preparing an economic evidence base for our positions, writing up briefings and distributing them to MLA’s, and supporting groups through our Age Sector Support Development Team. 

Our main briefing paper, “Opportunities for Ageing”, outlines how the government can deliver long term sustainable change by removing the barriers and realising the opportunities associated with population ageing.  We have identified three key areas that will have the most impact on older people in our society: Health and Social Care, Equality and Human Rights, and Poverty and have detailed how cuts on the scale expected will have a considerably adverse impact on older people, specifically those who may need extra care and support to live active and fulfilled lives.

Public policy should promote positive ageing, reinforcing the social, economic, political and cultural benefits of an ageing population. We have made recommendations in each of the key areas identified how this can be achieved.  We will continue to press our demands on, and offer our expertise to, the Northern Ireland Executive to help them make the right hard choices.