The economy and post-Brexit uncertainties, rather than public services, was clearly uppermost in the Chancellor’s mind when he announced the Autumn Statement. The Statement, informed by the OBR’s first forecasts since the Referendum, contained mixed news for Wales. This blog post looks at some of the key takeaway messages for Wales.
Authors


Associate Director
David is Head of Devolved and Local Government Finance. He also works on tax in developing countries as part of our TaxDev centre.

Report details
- Publisher
- Wales Public Services 2025
Suggested citation
D, Luchinskaya and D, Phillips and M, Trickey. (2016). Chancellor prioritises investment not public services. Cradiff: Wales Public Services 2025. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/chancellor-prioritises-investment-not-public-services (accessed: 14 November 2026).
Related documents
More from IFS
Understand this issue

What do councils actually do?
What does local government do, why are councils under financial pressure, and how might reform change the future of local services?
14 May 2026

Is the UK economy turning a corner?
UK growth is stronger than expected, but weak productivity and squeezed household incomes raise a bigger question: what comes next?
12 November 2026

Is the Chancellor’s spending plan credible?
Higher inflation, rising borrowing and potential spending cuts: what will the Chancellor’s first Budget mean for the economy and households today?
15 October 2026
Policy analysis

Initial response to Reform UK’s Welsh manifesto
Reform UK's Welsh manifesto echoes Conservative proposals while leaving the spending cuts needed to fund its tax ambitions unspecified.
5 March 2026

Scottish Budget and Spending Review signal big shifts in health and investment spending – but reliance on ambitious efficiency targets brings risk
IFS analysis shows the Scottish Budget relies on ambitious efficiency savings to shift health spending and reshape capital investment.
6 February 2026

The IFS Scottish Budget Report 2026–27
Our analysis of the 2026–27 Scottish Budget highlights a difficult outlook for both spending and investment in Scotland.
6 February 2026
Academic research

Tax Modelling and Distribution
This chapter provides a review of the literature on the distributional, poverty, and inequality impacts of taxation and public spending in Africa.
16 October 2026

The unintended consequences of infrastructure development
I investigate the social costs imposed by poor implementation of public infrastructure.
23 September 2026

Discretion versus algorithms: bureaucrats, tax equity and acceptability
We study how replacing bureaucrats’ discretion with algorithmic assessment affects the accuracy, equity, and public acceptance of tax decisions.
11 May 2026