Budget 2025: What does the budget mean for the West Midlands?
Johannes Read, Senior Policy and Data Analyst at City-REDI, provides a breakdown of what the 2025 budget means for the West Midlands.
Johannes Read, a Senior Policy and Data Analyst, at the City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI) at the University of Birmingham, has provided a breakdown of what the budget announcement means for the West Midlands and for Birmingham:
Devolution is an important part of the announcements made at the 2025 Budget. This includes:
- An Integrated Settlement of £1.8 billion for the West Midlands until 2030, allowing greater control and choice over delivering growth projects and developing strategic sites across the region, and devolution of housing funds through the National Housing Delivery Fund.
- Greater support for local economic growth through the Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund and Local Growth Fund to develop strategic investment partnerships for infrastructure, business, employment support and skills programmes in Mayoral Strategic Authorities, including the West Midlands.
- English regional mayors to be given powers to tax overnight stays in hotels and holiday lets. A record 101.5 million tourists visited the West Midlands in 2024 and could provide another source of revenue for the West Midlands Combined Authority.
- Commitment of £400 million government funding to support the £4 billion Birmingham Knowledge Quarter.
- Creative Industries in the West Midlands will get a boost of £25 million as part of the Creative Places Growth Fund.
- Reinforced commitment to the Midlands Rail Hub, which would help add up to 300 trains into or out of Birmingham, building better connections to Nottingham, Leicester, Bromsgrove, Nuneaton, Worcester, Hereford and Cardiff.
- Launch of 120 new Neighbourhood Health Centres across the country, with new sites in Birmingham, amongst others, to be operational by 2030. The aim of the Neighbourhood Health Centres is to co-locate local health services such as GPs and physiotherapists to improve access to care.
Regional impacts of national announcements
Here are some regional impacts of national announcements from the 2025 Budget and what they could mean for Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Budget 2025 Announcement |
Effect in the West Midlands |
Effect in Birmingham |
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For those aged 18 – 20, NWM will increase to 8.5% to £10.85/hour. Apprenticeships NWM will increase 6.9% to £8/hour. |
Pay rise for 201,000 people on NMW in the West Midlands (8.6% of total workforce). |
Pay rise for 34,700 residents on NMW in Birmingham (10.3% of total working age residents). |
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Extra support for 73,160 children in 57,090 households across the West Midlands. |
Extra support for 23,500 children in 17,990 households across Birmingham. |
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Notes for editors
Notes for editors
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