Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

There was a surprise additional £2bn for education recovery in England in the Budget, taking the total so far to around £5bn. This will be welcomed, but it falls far short of the more substantial £10bn-£15bn called for by education charities, unions and the government’s former advisor Sir Kevan Collins.

They have pointed to a disadvantage gap, which has widened during the pandemic. Schools facing rising costs from heating bills, national insurance and paying teachers will be disappointed that overall spending per pupil is not being given a greater uplift.

Instead the chancellor confirms that by 2024-25 per pupil spending in England’s schools will be restored, in real terms, to the same level as 2010.

There was also confirmation of funding to increase the number of places for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Following his alcohol announcements, Sunak says he wants to support "the home of British community life for centuries" - pubs.

He says the venues were already struggling before the pandemic but many public health bodies recognise them as safer drinking environments than being at home.

The chancellor announes "draught relief" to help them bounce back. This will apply a 5% cut to duty on draught beer and cider served from draught containers over 40 litres.

"That’s the biggest cut to cider duty since 1923," he says. "The biggest cut to fruit ciders in a generation. The biggest cut to beer duty for 50 years."

And he says it is not a temporary measure, but a "long-term investment in British pubs of £100m a year and a permanent cut in the cost of a pint by 3p".

Sunak says the planned rise in fuel duty will be cancelled because, with fuel prices at the highest level in eight years, he is "not prepared to add to the squeeze on families and small businesses".

It amounts to a saving over the next five years of nearly £8bn, he says.

Caroline Davies
Transport correspondent

The decision about Northern Powerhouse Rail and part of HS2 has been kicked down the kerb for now.

There had been speculation from campaign groups and MPs that the chancellor would include an announcement in his Budget.

However, today he only says that the Integrated Rail Plan – which is expected to set out the government’s plans for HS2’s eastern leg, Northern Powerhouse Rail and other rail investment in the Midlands and north of England – will come "soon".

Campaigners for and against HS2 are frustrated; they feel they’ve been told the decision is on its way for months.

Sunak says he wants "to help those businesses hardest hit by the pandemic".

He confirms a new 50% business rates discount for companies in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, lasting for one year.

"Pubs, music venues, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, theatres, gyms, any eligible business can claim a discount on their bills of 50%, up to a maximum of £110,000," he says.

Alongside the Small Business Rates Relief, the chancellor claims his measures mean more than 90% of all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will see a discount of at least 50%.

"Apart from the Covid reliefs, this is the biggest single-year cut to business rates in 30 years," he adds.

"We’re unleashing the dynamism and creativity of British businesses with a simpler, fairer, more competitive tax system."

Rishi Sunak says that the UK will carry out the "most radical simplification of alcohol duty" for over 100 years.

He says there will be just six duty rates on alcohol. The stronger the drink, the higher the rate, he states.

He says this will mean that some stronger spirits and wines will become more expensive, but weaker alcohols like beer and rosé will become cheaper.

There will also be a new "small producer relief" which will include small cider makers for the first time, in a similar way to small brewers' relief.

He says he will end the "irrational duty premium" of sparkling wines costing more than still wines of equivalent strength.

Duty is also being cut on fruit ciders to bring it in line with apple ciders, he states.

Image source, PA Media

The chancellor has announced a policy that is sure to raise the heckles of climate campaigners ahead of the COP26 climate conference - but which will please those who frequently fly around the UK.

He announces flights between airports in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be subject to a new lower rate of Air Passenger Duty from April 2023.

"This will help the cost of living, with nine million passengers seeing their duty cut by half, [and] it will bring people together across the UK," he says, as well as boosting local airports.

Just earlier this week the Climate Change Committee advisory body said the government was failing to reduce demand for flying as part of its plans to rein in climate change.

Sunak says the government is also making changes to reduce carbon emissions from aviation - but by focusing on long-haul flights.

"Most emissions come from international rather than domestic aviation," he says, "so I’m introducing, from April 2023, a new ultra long haul band in Air Passenger Duty covering flights of over 5,500 miles, with an economy rate of £91."

He says less than 5% of passengers will pay more, but "those who fly furthest will pay the most".

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

Two of the government's biggest challenges are its desire to 'level up' as ministers call it, and going green.

Sometimes these two things collide head on - and the Budget has just illustrated one of those moments.

Connecting the UK - and particularly the isolated bits - is seen as vital to levelling up.

And so domestic flights will have an air passenger duty cut.

But how does that sit alongside a commitment to Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and travelling in a more environmentally sustainable way?

Sunak claims that public sector net investment as a share of GDP will be "at the highest sustained level for nearly half a century" under his government.

"If anyone still doubts it, today’s Budget confirms the Conservatives are the real party of public services."

He promises a £44bn increase to resource spending on healthcare by the end of the Parliament and, thanks to the new tax the government is introducing, says the health capital budget will be the largest since 2010.

The chancellor lists a mix of old and new proposals, from the contested promise of 40 new hospitals through to 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more primary care appointments.

But he does also pledge new grant funding for local councils over the next three years of £4.8bn, calling it "the largest increase in core funding for over a decade".

Earlier, Sunak said he was changing the fiscal rules to "keep this government on the path of discipline and responsibility".

So what are those rules?

Firstly, he says, underlying public debt as a percentage of gross domestic product - or everything the UK produces - must fall.

And secondly, Sunak says that day-to-day spending will be funded from taxation and not from borrowing.

"In normal times the state should only borrow to invest in our future growth and prosperity," he says.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

The big picture of the Budget so far is this:

Firstly, the economy is in a better state than it was thought it would be.

The "scarring assumption" of the pandemic, as the Treasury calls it, hasn't been as bad as forecasts imagined.

So Rishi Sunak feels a bit more flush than he thought he would.

And secondly, he's decided, as a result, to spend.

This is a very different Conservatism to that of David Cameron and George Osborne.

There is a pride in spending lots of taxpayers' money.

If the Conservatives are spending lots of money, where does that leave Labour?

We'll find out shortly, as the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves responds to Sunak in a bit.

The chancellor is talking about innovation, one of the key things he says he wants to invest in for the economy of the future.

The UK is already a world-leader he says - with less than 1% of the world’s population, we have four of the world’s top 20 universities

He says he will maintain the target to increase research and development investment (R&D) investment to £22bn.

Referring to new immigration policies, he says the Scale-Up Visa system will make it quicker and easier for fast-growing businesses to bring in highly-skilled individuals.

It will help "identify, attract and relocate the best global talent in key science and tech sectors" he says and is "all part of our plan to make our visa system for international talent the most competitive in the world".

Rishi Sunak says the UK has an "uneven economic geography" which needs resolving as the UK comes out from "the worst economic shock we've ever seen".

He says the government is choosing to invest.

The National Infrastructure Strategy spends over £100bn a year on UK infrastructure.

He says it's investing tens of billions in £21bn on roads and £46bn on railways, and is also going to guarantee £5.7bn in spending for London-style transport systems across city regions.

There will be spending on cycling infrastructure of more than £5bn, the same funds will also be spent on local minor roads.

Sunak is talking about one of his favourite subjects - so-called "levelling up", which he's already described as the "golden thread" running through his Budget.

He says it's not just about public services but also communities too - "restoring the pride people feel in the places they call home".

Money will be invested in youth services he says - to build youth clubs and 8,000 state-of-the-art community football pitches across the UK.

Regional libraries, museums and theatres will also benefit, he says, from his "Budget for the whole United Kingdom".

Here's what he means by the phrase "levelling up".

Sunak promises his Budget is one "for the whole United Kingdom".

He says through the Barnett formula - which allocates the proportion of spending in the nations - Scottish government funding will go up by £4.6bn, Welsh government funding by £2.5bn, and £1.6bn for the Northern Ireland Executive.

"This delivers, in real terms, the largest block grants for the devolved administrations since the devolution settlements of 1998," he adds.

The chancellor says the post-Brexit UK Shared Prosperity Fund will also continue to be ramped up to "to match EU receipts, averaging around £1.5bn a year".

And he promises to fund projects across the UK, from the Extreme E race in Scotland to the programme for Tackling Paramilitarism in NI.

"We are bound together by more than transactional benefit," says Sunak. "It is our collective history, our culture and our security. We are, and always will be, one family. One United Kingdom."

Image source, PA Media

Rishi Sunak says today's Budget funds the government's ambition to have 20,000 new police officers.

It also provides an extra £2.2bn for courts and rehabilitation services.

He says the Budget will also improve funding for responses to rape cases.

It will also spend £3.8bn for the "biggest prison-building programme in a generation".

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

A striking approach from this government since Boris Johnson became prime minister is to define itself not just against previous Labour governments, but the Conservative and Conservative-led governments that came before them too.

Anecdotally, it seems to work with some.

When I was covering the Hartlepool by election, which the Conservatives won, taking the seat for the first time in yonks, I was struck by how often people talked about a new government - rather than one that had been in power in one form or another for more than a decade.

And listen to the chancellor's announcement on education funding in England - making a virtue of restoring per-pupil funding to 2010 levels in real terms.

A Conservative government pointedly turning its back on the years of cuts delivered by its predecessors.

Sunak confirms £300m will go towards "A Start for Life offer" for families, offering parenting programmes and help with perinatal mental health.

He also confirms funding to create a network of Family Hubs around the country with an extra £170m pot.

Continuing on the same theme, he promises £150m to support and train those who work in early years, along with more funding for holiday and activity programmes.

The chancellor promises to "deliver our commitment to schools, with an extra £4.7bn by 2024-25" - which he claims restores per pupil funding to 2010 levels - when the Conservatives came into power.

"We know that the pandemic caused significant disruption to children’s learning and we've already announced £3.1bn to help education recovery," he says.

"Today, as promised by the prime minister and education secretary, we will go further – with just under £2bn of new funding to help schools and colleges, bringing this government’s total support for education recovery to almost £5bn."

However, this funding falls far short of what education unions and the former catch-up tsar, Sir Kevan Collins, said was required - about £13.5bn.

Reality Check

The chancellor has referred to the UK economy having the fastest growth of its major competitors. Earlier, the prime minister said it was the fastest growth in the G7.

The G7 is a group of big economies.

UK GDP, a measure of everything produced in the country, grew 5.5% between April and June, compared with the first three months of the year, and Mr Johnson's right - that is more than any other G7 country.

But the UK economy was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which means it takes more growth to get back to where we started.

If you take a longer view, the picture looks less rosy. If you compare GDP between April and June 2021 with the last three months of 2019, before the pandemic hit, the UK had the joint-fifth best growth in the G7, equal with Germany, and with only Italy doing worse.

Sunak moves on to housing.

He says £24bn will be earmarked for "a multi-year housing settlement" totalling nearly £24bn.

£11.5bn of this will be set aside to build up to 180,000 new affordable homes, which he says is the largest cash investment in a decade.

Brown-field land will be targeted for new homes, he says.

On cladding, he says £5bn twill be made available to remove unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings, which he says will be partly funded by the Residential Property Developers Tax.

This will be levied on developers with profits over £25m at a rate of 4%.