Tony Blair Institute: Spending Review cannot just be an exercise in balancing the books

TBI has today published its look ahead to next week's Spending Revie

TBI Executive Director for Policy Sam Sharps said:

“Next week's Spending Review cannot just be an exercise in balancing the books. While tough choices will be necessary, making the right ones will be essential.

“The UK cannot afford to keep throwing more money at outdated delivery models. We need a smarter, more integrated and more responsive digital state. 

“Artificial Intelligence offers a powerful opportunity to free up staff time, improve service quality, and reduce long-term costs across public services. But real gains will only come with serious investment in infrastructure, capability, and coordination. TBI estimates that investing £4 billion per year across the public sector could yield £11 billion in net annual savings by the end of this Parliament - rising to £40 billion by 2040. Likewise a digital ID would cost around £1 billion to build and £100 million a year to run, but could deliver £2 billion in annual savings once fully operational.

“Even in tough times there is scope to do a lot. Applied in the right way, government spending can provide the tools to build a stronger economy, better public services and a healthier, more productive country.”