Chancellor Reeves boosts NHS and housing

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her Spending Review, setting out budgets for government departments. She says spending on the NHS will rise by 3% a year after inflation - that's more than expected, our health editor Hugh Pym writes. Reeves confirms £39bn for social and affordable housing, a boost in defence spending, an end to "costly" asylum hotels by 2029, and an extension of the £3 bus fare cap in England to 2027. The chancellor says she's rejecting "austerity" and confirms total departmental spending will grow by 2.3% over inflation per year But some departments will have their day-to-day budgets cut - including by 1.7% at the Home Office and 6.9% at the Foreign Office. The chancellor says spending increases are possible because of "decisions I took in the Autumn to raise taxes, and changes to the fiscal rules" - the Conservatives' Mel Stride attacks her approach as "spend now, tax later"

NHS: The day-to-day budget for the health service in England will go up by 3% over the next three years - more than was expected - reaching £226bn by 2029.

Housing: It was confirmed that £39bn will be allocated to building social and affordable housing in England between 2026 and 2036 - that's an average of £3.9bn a year.
Defence: The Ministry of Defence's day-to-day budget will go up 0.7% in real terms, with investment spending over the period averaging 7.3%. (We already knew that defence spending is due to rise from 2.3% to 2.5% of overall economic output by 2027.)

Asylum hotels: The government said it will end the use of hotels to temporarily house asylum seekers before the next election - this was in Labour's manifesto.

Education: The core schools budget in England will increase by 0.4% in real terms on average over the next three years, reaching £69.5bn by 2029. It was also confirmed that free school meals will be extended to around 500,000 more children whose parents are receiving benefits.

Transport: £15.6bn will be allocated between 2027 and 2031 for transport projects in English city regions outside London, plus the £3 cap on single bus fares in England will be extended until March 2027.

Energy: An additional £11.5bn will go towards the cost of building the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, which will also require private investment.
And here's a flavour of what the Conservatives said in response:

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said his party would've made different choices and focused on improving "efficiency in the public sector", and "getting a grip on welfare"
He described Reeves as "the chancellor who refuses to listen", and said it's "working people and businesses who will pay the price" at her next Budget - at which he said it's "inevitable" that new tax rises would be announced