Spending Review 2025 - RSN Initial Response

The Rural Services Network welcomes the publication of today’s Spending Review as an important marker of this new government’s priorities — and we particularly note the Chancellor’s commitment to ensuring that the benefits of growth and investment are felt across all regions of the UK.

At first reading, the Review contains little explicit reference to rural communities and there is a risk that smaller towns, villages and dispersed areas will again be overlooked in the practical delivery of these commitments. 

We will be conducting further analysis, but it is clear that major investments — including transport capital funding, the new Growth Mission Fund, local growth funding and the 10-year Affordable Homes Programme — must be made accessible to rural and smaller community areas as well as larger city regions.

The Green Book reforms — particularly the introduction of place-based business cases — present a genuine opportunity to ensure future investments better reflect the potential and needs of rural areas, but only if these tools are applied with full regard to the diversity of rural circumstances and geographies.

The RSN also notes the reference to affordable housing being the “biggest boost in a generation” — and we will press to ensure this includes genuinely affordable homes in rural communities, where availability and affordability gaps are stark and growing.

On transport, whilst welcome funding increases are set out for local transport improvements, there is again a strong focus on city regions and major corridors. Rural mobility — including buses, community transport and connectivity to hubs — must be given far greater priority if opportunity is to be truly levelled.

We also note reports that council tax rises are likely to play a significant role in increasing local government spending power. It is vital to remember that rural residents already pay higher average council tax per head, while receiving fewer services and lower levels of government grant — a longstanding and well-evidenced imbalance. Adding further cost pressures onto rural working families — many already facing higher living costs and limited transport options — risks compounding these disparities. Future funding settlements and service investments must address this imbalance, not deepen it.

With regards to agriculture and the land-based economy, the Spending Review is light on detail. DEFRA’s full departmental settlement and future plans are awaited. However, with rural land management playing a pivotal role in net zero, biodiversity and national food security, we will press for clarity on long-term support and investment in these sectors.

As a report by the Rural Coalition makes clear, unlocking rural potential could deliver up to £19 billion in additional tax revenues for the Treasury. Rural England is not a problem to be solved — it is a solution to national growth. But this will only be realised if future delivery actively includes and invests in rural areas as an integral part of national renewal.

We all deserve the same opportunities to thrive. A thriving rural economy benefits everyone — helping to fund public services and drive the wider national recovery.

The RSN will now undertake detailed analysis of SR25 and work closely with members and government to press for fair and inclusive delivery across all rural areas.

Kerry Booth, Chief Executive of the Rural Services Network:

This Spending Review offers an important opportunity — but rural communities must not be left behind in its delivery. We will be working hard to ensure that the potential of our rural areas is fully recognised and supported across all investment streams.

Rural residents already contribute so much to our national life — they deserve their fair share of investment and opportunity in return. We will be holding the government to account to make sure that happens — because a truly thriving rural economy benefits the whole nation.

The Rural Services Network is open to providing comments and participating in interviews. 

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