Minister says spending overview will mark ‘end to austerity’, as Home Office but to agree deal – UK politics are living

Keir Starmer has been talking at a London Tech Week match this morning, and he has introduced that by means of subsequent spring the federal government will roll out a brand new AI software for councils permitting them to digitise making plans paperwork inside mins. The executive says this software, evolved the usage of Google DeepMind’s Gemini type, will liberate hundreds of hours of officials’ time.

In a information free up, Downing Street explains:

For the primary time, this state-of-the-art generation will assist councils convert decades-old, handwritten making plans paperwork and maps into knowledge in mins – and can energy new kinds of making plans tool to slash the 250,000 estimated hours spent by means of making plans officials each and every yr manually checking those paperwork. This will dramatically cut back delays that experience lengthy plagued the gadget.

Around 350,000 making plans packages are submitted a yr in England, but the gadget stays closely reliant on paper paperwork – some masses of pages lengthy. Once submitted, each and every of those paperwork must be manually validated and authorized by means of a making plans officer.

In take a look at trials throughout Hillingdon, Nuneaton & Bedworth, and Exeter councils, Extract digitised making plans information, together with maps, in simply 3 mins each and every – in comparison to the 1–2 hours it usually takes manually. This manner Extract may just procedure round 100 making plans information an afternoon – considerably rushing up the method.

This represents a step-change in productiveness, releasing up hundreds of hours for making plans officials to concentrate on decision-making to hurry up housebuilding. It may also boost up the supply of much-needed housing, strengthen reliability within the making plans procedure and cut back prices and save time for councils and builders.

Extract is anticipated to be made to be had to all councils by means of spring 2026. The executive’s ambition is to completely digitise the making plans gadget – making it sooner, extra clear, and more uncomplicated to navigate for running other folks, councils, companies and builders.

For Starmer, that is acquainted territory. As director of public prosecutions, one in all his achivements he talks about maximum used to be digitalising courtroom information.

Starmer additionally showed a £187m programme to increase AI educating in colleges.

Good morning. In concept spending overview negotiations can cross as much as the cord, with the general talks to get to the bottom of sticking issues happening past due at evening, most effective hours prior to the choices, and paperwork, are offered to MPs. In observe, it does now not in reality occur like that now, last-minute haggling is now not regimen, and, with two days to move prior to the spending overview that may settle executive spending till 2019, just one cupboard minister has now not but settled.

Here are the important thing tendencies this morning at the factor that may dominate the week.

• Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, settled with the Treasury past due final evening. The information used to be damaged by means of Arj Singh from the i, who reviews:

The i Paper understands that Rayner and Reeves agreed a deal simply after 7.30pm after marathon talks on Sunday.

But Home Office and Treasury resources have been tight lipped on Sunday, in a sign that negotiations over police investment also are going to the cord.

• That manner Yvette Cooper, the house secretary, is the one minister but to agree a spending agreement with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. In the Times Chris Smyth says police budgets are anticipated to upward push by means of greater than inflation, however different portions of the Home Office funds might face cuts. He reviews:

It is known that Reeves has insisted that policing budgets will upward push in each and every yr of the spending overview, which units investment as much as 2028-29. However, it stays unclear if the spice up will fit the greater than £1 billion additional officials say is had to duvet current shortfalls.

Cooper may be anticipated to have to search out deeper cuts in other places to spice up police budgets. The Border Force has warned of longer queues at airports because it faces cuts to its £1.2 billion funds, announcing there can be a “threat to national security” if it misplaced frontline group of workers.

• Two police unions have introduced a last-minute bid for more cash. In an editorial within the Daily Telegraph, Nick Smart, president of the Police Superintendents’s Association, and Tiff Lynch, appearing chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, say:

Police are being requested to do extra with much less – once more – as drive mounts on already overstretched budgets.

Why? Policing faces a £1.2 billion shortfall. This is prior to it’s requested to ship the bold pledges of the brand new executive.

Police forces around the nation are being compelled to shed officials and group of workers to ship financial savings.

These don’t seem to be administrative cuts. They cross to the core of policing’s skill to ship a top quality provider: fewer officials at the beat, longer wait instances for sufferers, and no more to be had officials when a disaster hits.

As a sensible lobbying workout, that is slightly useless, as it comes too past due, however the two unions are making their case to the general public.

• Chris Bryant, the tradition minister, has mentioned that the spending overview will mark “an end to austerity”. He instructed Times Radio:

We know from working the federal government that spending cash of itself isn’t an fulfillment. Spending cash and getting effects is an fulfillment and that’s why we say now with this spending overview on Wednesday it’s an finish to austerity …

That duration of austerity the place I feel earlier governments merely minimize all public provider budgets simply because they believed that used to be what you needed to do is over.

But he additionally mentioned some budgets can be “stretched”. He mentioned well being and defence spending would upward push, however added:

There are going to be different portions of the funds which are going to be a lot more stretched and be tricky.

Ministers had been promising the tip of austerity a minimum of since Theresa May used to be in place of work. Labour defends the usage of this word at the grounds that general executive spending goes up in actual phrases. But there’s no agreed definition of “austerity” and, if spending is falling in sure spaces, that can really feel like austerity, and so the usage of the time period does now not give a contribution so much to public debate. What it does imply, even though, is that governments announcing they’re finishing austerity certainly don’t need to be related to George Osborne.

Here is our in a single day tale concerning the spending overview.

Here is the schedule for the day.

Morning: Keir Starmer offers a speech at a London Tech Week match.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a foyer briefing.

Noon: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK chief, offers a speech at Port Talbot in south Wales.

2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, takes questions within the Commons.

Also, Starmer is assembly Mark Rutte, the Nato basic secretary, in Downing Street nowadays.

If you need to touch me, please publish a message under the road when feedback are open (generally between 10am and 3pm these days), or message me on social media. I will’t learn all of the messages BTL, however for those who put “Andrew” in a message aimed toward me, I’m much more likely to look it as a result of I seek for posts containing that phrase.

If you need to flag one thing up urgently, it’s best to make use of social media. You can achieve me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its reliable accounts on X, however person Guardian reporters are there, I nonetheless have my account, and for those who message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I can see it and reply if essential.

I in finding it very useful when readers indicate errors, even minor typos. No error is just too small to right kind. And I in finding your questions very attention-grabbing too. I will’t promise to respond to all of them, however I can take a look at to respond to as many as I will, both BTL or now and again within the weblog.