Government expected to announce £600bn ‘build back’ fund for infrastructure projects

Rishi Sunak is expected to make tens of billions of pounds available for infrastructure investment across the UK next week.

The chancellor will use his spending review to announce a £600 billion “build back” fund that will see projects in “all nations and regions” funded over the next five years.

The government will also publish the terms for the long-awaited shared prosperity fund, which will target funding at “left-behind places and people in need”, including t ow n s , c o a s t a l communities and former industrial heartlands.

This will include £220 million next year for local areas to pilot programmes well before investment from EU Structural Funds start to tail off across nations.

To ensure tha t government policies have the most impact, the Treasury will set up a headquarters in the north of England next year.

This move will form part of a wider strategy that will see thousands of civil servants move to the regions and nations of the UK.

Mr Sunak said: “We are absolutely committed to levelling-up opportunities so those living in all corners of the UK get their fair share of our future prosperity.

“All nations and regions of the UK have benefited from our unprecedented £200 billion Covid support package.

“And after a difficult year for this country, this spending review will help us build back better by i nv e s t i n g more than £600 billion across the UK during the next five years.”

The spending splurge comes amid rumours the Tr e a s u r y is a lso considering a public sector pay freeze to pay for the pandemic.

Mr Sunak is reportedly preparing to announce a limit on the p ay of millions of council staff, civil servants, teachers, police and other public servants when he unveils his spending review.