18 June 2025
Wen’s reponse to Spending Review – June 2025
Last week’s Spending Review brought some welcome news – but missed opportunities too.
We’re pleased to see commitments to warm homes, public transport, and farming support budgets protected or increased. These are crucial for building a fairer, greener future – particularly for women, children, marginalised and racialised communities, who are disproportionately affected by cold homes, poor air quality and lack of access to healthy, affordable food and are more reliant on public transport.
It’s also encouraging to see nature-based schemes, like peat restoration and tree planting, funded through the Farming and Countryside Programme. A just food system starts with healthy soil, thriving biodiversity and access to land – and this budget avoided the deep cuts some feared. But we urge the government to go further in supporting women and communities working to build local, community-led food systems.
Yet some spending choices still reflect an outdated vision. Billions remain earmarked for new road schemes and expensive, unproven technologies like small modular nuclear reactors, while much-needed investment in active transport, like walking and cycling, which is good for health and the environment, public transport and electric vehicle infrastructure, has fallen behind. Capital investment is vital – but it must serve people and the planet, not polluters and private profit.
At Wen, we believe that public spending should support a feminist green economy – one that uplifts women, centres care, and protects the health of communities and the natural world. We’ll be watching upcoming announcements closely, especially the government’s industrial and circular economy strategies, to ensure that justice – gender, racial, social and environmental – is truly part of the plan.
