What’s in a budget?

For most people, the Autumn Budget is a flash in the pan. They may be aware of it on the day, and hear about some of the more headline-grabbing policies, e.g. “£100 off your energy bill”. However, rarely does a Budget make the news for long. 

For those working in the public sector, however – it is a long and complex piece of documentation that will have important implications for them and their work for years to come. That’s why we’ve gone through all 152 pages of the Autumn Budget and picked out what we think are the most important takeaways for our sector.

Faster planning decisions and 300+ new planning officers

The Autumn Budget put a great deal of emphasis on speeding up planning decisions. Following the Labour Party manifesto, the Autumn Budget restated the commitment to recruit more than 300 additional planning officers in order to address the capacity challenges facing local planning authorities.

Technology is also expected to play a more significant role. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is developing a new AI tool, which it claims will be able to provide an initial assessment of new planning applications before they are reviewed by an officer. This tool is due to be made available to all councils in England by the end of 2027. The government’s ambition is for it to halve routine planning decision times and help build capacity in the system.

Exemptions to Biodiversity Net Gain Requirements 

The Budget confirmed that residential brownfield developments on sites of up to 1.5 hectares in England will be exempt from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements. 

These requirements were put in place to ensure new development would help rather than harm the overall biodiversity of an area, with companies required to use some of their profits to offset their environmental impact. However, the proposed purpose of this change is to make it cheaper to build homes on brownfield land, therefore reducing the necessity to build on greenfield and greenbelt land.

The government consulted on this exemption, and will provide a response to the consultation, alongside an impact assessment and implementation timetable shortly.

Regional devolution continues at pace

This Budget is in keeping with the new government’s ambition to transfer power away from Whitehall and back to local govovernment. It describes the plans as “the biggest transfer of power and resources in a generation”, with a greater role for local and regional leaders in shaping economic priorities.

The most obvious way the Autumn Budget demonstrated this was via business rates. Going forward, local and regional governments will retain 100% of business rates income, with the local authority share increasing to at least 70%. This shift is expected to happen before the end of the decade. Mayoral Authorities will begin receiving a 20% share from April 2027. 

AI deployed across civil service

AI is already being pushed fairly strongly across much of the civil service, but this Budget commits £35 million in additional funding to establish a new GovAI unit. The unit is expected to give civil servants access to AI tools and help departments develop their own existing capabilities. GovAI will also manage a £50 million Civil Service AI transformation fund across 2027-29.

Increasing Britain’s “AI capabilities” was marked in various other ways in the Budget, including the new Data Centre Covenant. The Covenant seeks to set expectations for owners of data centres seeking enhanced government support and particularly new grid connections. These include paying their fair share of energy costs, creating jobs and apprenticeships, protecting nature and responsible water stewardship.

However, it is likely that the strong implication that data centres may be allowed to use environmentally damaging alternative energy production methods like gas while they wait for grid connections will be highly controversial.

Regulatory innovation

The Budget sets out plans to give businesses and public bodies more scope to test new approaches by temporarily adapting existing regulations. The proposed Regulation for Growth Bill would introduce powers to do this under strict controls and safeguards, with the possibility of making changes permanent if trials prove safe and effective.

The government has already identified some potential uses. In defence, it wants to create simpler routes for developing autonomous systems, working through a new Ministry of Defence-led drone regulation unit. 

On the high street, councils could be able to test more flexible licensing arrangements. For example, making it easier for pubs, bars and restaurants to make use of outdoor space. 

In rural areas, the government wants to explore more efficient approaches to environmental regulation and the management of land and natural resources, while maintaining environmental protections and standards.

This is a more consequential change than the examples might suggest, and is likely to inspire some strong feelings if this is rolled out more widely. 

Communities getting a real say in more place-based decision-making

A recurring theme in the Budget is the idea that growth should be shaped around local priorities. The government wants local leaders to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to take a more place-based approach to regeneration and development.

There are some specific financial commitments in the budget for this. For example, the new £125 million Derelict Buildings Fund will support local authorities in England to regenerate buildings according to community need. A further £65 million will help communities rescue and revamp valued buildings and businesses at risk of closure, including pubs and sports clubs.

These measures create opportunities for residents to help define what local investment should deliver. This is an expansion on some of the pre-existing place-based development funding, such as the Pride in Place programme.

Local consultations on establishing Strategic Authorities

The Budget confirmed that the government is in the final stages of agreeing ten new devolution agreements. The next step will be to work with relevant councils to launch local consultations. The stated aim of this government is for more than 90% of England’s population to have a devolution agreement in place, with full devolution coverage targeted by the end of 2028.

Consultation will be an important part of establishing new Strategic Authorities. They will provide an opportunity to explain what the new arrangements mean, hear from relevant stakeholders and understand local perspectives on how powers should be organised.

Our conclusion

Overall, the Autumn Budget has set out some significant changes for the public sector. There is a clear desire from the new government to consider new ways of working and to strip away unnecessary delays and bureaucracy. New technology in particular is seen as a key way to make this happen, but it would be wrong to suggest that this budget assumes technology is all that is needed to achieve this.

This Budget shows the government is willing to experiment to keep things moving at pace. However, the ambitious nature of some of the stated aims in the Budget make it more important that certain safeguards aren't lost along the way. Balancing all these competing priorities will be no small task.

Perhaps tellingly, the Budget mentions consultation 54 separate times. This suggests the government recognises that it needs public understanding and support to make these changes work.