Ben Zaranko

Employing public sector workers to help deliver public services is a major part of what government does. The number of workers employed by the government and how much they are paid matters not just for those individuals and their families, but also for the public finances and for the public services those employees help provide.

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis and associated recession, government borrowing soared to more than 10% of national income. Borrowing has since been reduced through a combination of net tax rises, cuts to the generosity of the working-age social security system and cuts to public service spending. In this briefing note, we provide an overview of what has happened to each of these areas since the crisis, highlighting where (and when) the spending cuts have fallen, and consider the long-term outlook for the make-up of public expenditure.

Funding the National Health Service is now the biggest single thing the government does. So how has health spending has changed over the last 70 years?

This Wednesday the Chancellor will allocate funding to departments for the next financial year, 2020-2021. This departmental spending (DEL) is £375 billion this year.

This briefing note discusses the consequences of Jeremy Hunt's tax and spending policies, including reducing corporation tax, increasing the point at which workers become liable for National Insurance (NICs) contributions, increasing defence spending, and reducing the interest rate applied to student debt.

The Chancellor is yet to confirm how much money will be made available to departments at the 2019 Spending Review. To meet his promise to end austerity, Phillip Hammond will need to find billions of extra funding.