A number of trade organisations have welcomed Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review which consists of a number of support packages in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the Government expecting the economy set to shrink by around 11.4% this year, Sunak announced a series of measures to help ward off austerity for the UK. As a result, he revealed a new £4.6 billion unemployment package to help people get back to work, as well as a further £2.6 billion ‘Restart scheme’ to support those that have been out of work for a year.

A series of cuts have also been announced, including a freeze to public sector pay for 2021/22 (excluding the NHS), as well as the overseas aid budget being cut by around £4 billion.

The Chancellor also revealed a £4 billion ‘levelling up’ fund designed to help pay for upgrading local infrastructure across UK.

An extra £375 million skills package will also come into place, which will aim to strengthen education throughout the UK. This includes a further £138 million of funding for a ‘Lifetime Skills Guarantee’ which will mean that adults without an A level or equivalent qualification will be offered a free, fully-funded further education course.

“This announcement presented a unique opportunity for the Chancellor to show his support for the food and drink supply chain and its 4.3m employees – sectors severely impacted by the Government’s closure of the hospitality industry.”

Chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), Ian Wright CBE, commented: “This announcement will be broadly welcomed by the food and drink industry, particularly the Chancellor’s commitment to additional investment in skills.

“The lifetime skills guarantee will be key to helping upskill the UK’s workforce, whilst Kickstart, the Youth Offer and other schemes, will provide much needed additional support to those younger people who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.

“It is encouraging too to see further money committed to R&D, which we hope will deliver long-terms benefits for food and drink manufacturers across the country. We welcome the introduction of the Shared Prosperity Fund for the devolved administrations and look forward to seeing how that money will be used to support the food and drink sectors in Wales and Scotland.”

“This announcement presented a unique opportunity for the Chancellor to show his support for the food and drink supply chain and its 4.3m employees – sectors severely impacted by the Government’s closure of the hospitality industry. This was his chance to help put us back on the path to long-term growth and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Government’s independent trade policy.

“If the Government wishes to further support UK industry it must also consider whether it presses ahead with those policies which would deter investment and suffocate profitability. Proposals such as the proposed online advertising ban on HFSS foods would impact a broad swathe of products and inhibit innovation across our industry.”

Despite welcoming the spending review, National Farmers Union (NFU) president, Minette Batters, said further support was needed for Wales, where only £95 million worth of the funding will be attributed.

Batters added: “This announcement presents a mixed picture for our farmer and grower members.

“For farmers in England, it is good news that the Government has confirmed its manifesto pledge to maintain existing levels of farm support. There is still more detail needed on how we transition to a new domestic agricultural policy and it is crucial we hear more detail on this as soon as possible.

“However Welsh farmers appear to be facing a significant funding gap of £95 million, compared to existing EU funding. This is unacceptable and clearly not consistent with the government’s levelling up agenda. The UK Government must preserve existing levels of funding for Welsh agriculture.”