Face coverings have been made mandatory for everyone working in the House of Commons, except MPs.

The Commons authorities recently announced that all staff, visitors, contractors and members of the press must cover their faces to combat the spread of Covid-19.

However, most Tory MPs were seen mask-free on Tuesday.

Sajid Javid, the health secretary, says he will wear a mask for today’s Budget, when the chamber will be packed.

But on Monday, he said it was a “personal decision” for ministers and backbenchers as to whether they also wear masks.

As MPs are not employed by the Commons authorities, they cannot be forced to wear masks.

Most opposition parties - including Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP - have worn face coverings during debates.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer says the aim of the Budget must be to take the "pressure off working people".

Starmer will have a chance to respond to the Budget straight after the chancellor finishes his statement, which is expected to be at around 13:30 BST.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Many of the pre-Budget revelations may sound good, but they need to be taken with caution.

This is the PR blitz seeking good headlines. We don't yet know the detail of exactly what the government is planning.

The raft of investments will make a difference. But there are questions.

Are the transport links, treatment centres and other projects entirely new or have some parts been announced (with equal fanfare) before now?

Crucially, what is happening more broadly to the budgets of the departments getting cash?

A shiny investment in something is great, but is that department's day-to-day spending being squeezed? And what of those areas that aren't getting the handouts?

Best to wait until later to truly judge the chancellor's largesse.

One of the iconic images on Budget day is that of the chancellor brandishing his battered red ministerial box on the steps of No 11, flanked by his Treasury team, before heading to the Commons.

But one key figure says he won't be posing for the photograph because of a medical condition.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke, lives with agoraphobia and feels uncomfortable in some open spaces.

Image source, PA

Boris Johnson has chaired a meeting of the cabinet this morning, ahead of the chancellor's statement later in the House.

It's a Budget day tradition for the top team to meet on the big day for a briefing in advance - normally cabinet is held on Tuesdays.

It sets the stage for a busy day ahead, with the PM answering questions in the House at 12:00 BST and Rishi Sunak getting to his feet straight afterwards.

Within the next hour, we should also get the customary photo of chancellor posing with his red box.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

One of the pre-announcements in the chancellor's Budget is that the public sector pay freeze - introduced last year as a response to the pandemic - will be lifted from April.

It means teachers, nurses and members of the armed forces are among those in line to see their wages rise, although pay review bodies will determine by exactly how much.

One primary school teacher from London, Jennie Joines, who's contacted the BBC, says she is "grateful for any increase".

But she says school budgets are "so precarious", her own money will "probably be spent on classroom essentials very quickly".

Schools "just cannot afford the things we used to be able to before" she says, such as glue, books and colouring pencils, so she often buys her own.

"I don't know any other job where you have to use your own money to work," she adds.

There has been a flood of pre-budget announcements since last weekend, much to the annoyance of the Commons' Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle who says it is "not acceptable" the media has been briefed before Parliament. Here's a selection of what we know so far:

• England's city regions will receive £6.9bn to spend on train, tram, bus and cycle projects. Only £1.5bn of this is new - the rest was announced in 2019. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also receive extra funding
• NHS England will get almost £6bn to tackle the backlog of people waiting for tests and scans
• The National Living Wage is going up next April from £8.91 per hour to £9.50
• Fuel duty is expected to be frozen again, but the BBC has been told VAT on household energy will not be cut
• £500m will be spent supporting parents and children in England with a network of family hubs

You can read about further announcements here.

The Daily Telegraph's political editor Ben Riley-Smith tweets:

There is speculation that the chancellor will announce plans to simplify the way that alcohol is taxed in the UK - something the Conservatives promised in the 2019 manifesto.

One suggestion is that Rishi Sunak could reduce the premium on sparkling wine to the same level as still wine, potentially knocking 83p off a bottle of Champagne or prosecco.

Here's hoping...

Simon Read
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It's the government's second Budget of the year, after one in March, and will coincide with the conclusions of the 2021 Spending Review, which will give details of how government will fund public services for the next three years.

Responding to the most recent public sector finance data this week, the chancellor said: "At the Budget and Spending Review next week, I will set out how we will continue to support public services, businesses and jobs while keeping our public finances fit for the future."

What are his options?

Here, we look at six things to watch out for in the Budget that could affect your personal finances.

Some parts of the Budget, such as defence spending, impact the whole of the UK.

Others, such as education, only affect England. This is because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make their own decisions.

Scotland has income tax-raising powers, which means its rates differ from the rest of the UK.

The Scottish government will publish its Budget on 9 December.

If the government announces extra spending on areas that only affect England, the other nations get an equivalent extra sum of money to spend as they choose, according to a rule called the Barnett formula.

Beth Timmins
BBC News

Image source, Ruby Torry

In today’s Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will set out his view of what the country needs, what it can afford, and what will prove popular.

But what exactly do members of the public want from this Budget?

Ruby Torry is a 23-year-old waitress at Zizzi's restaurant in Sheffield and earns the minimum wage.

"I'm careful with my bills and don't go silly with shopping, but I want to see the minimum wage go up or National Insurance tax come down," she tells the BBC.

Nick Grey founded a company that makes floor cleaning and garden products and has a turnover of £70m. The firm employs 200 people across the UK.

Nick says the Budget should not make it more difficult for firms to employ overseas workers, which he thinks would be a "backwards step" amid the labour shortages.

Meanwhile, Jon Tolley runs independent record shop Banquet Records in Surrey. He believes the fairest way to pay for the pandemic is through increased tax for people and businesses that earn the most, rather than a rise in everyone's National Insurance tax.

You can read more views here.

Image source, PA medi

Universal credit could be a key issue in today's Budget after the £20-a-week increase that was brought in to help low income families through the pandemic was withdrawn at the beginning of October.

Robert Jenrick, the former communities secretary, has hinted that Rishi Sunak could announce changes to the taper rate today. The taper rate means that the amount of universal credit a person receives reduces as they work more hours.

At the moment, for every £1 earned over the work allowance, payment is reduced by 63p.

Jenrick tells LBC Radio that reducing the taper rate "is one option that is available to the chancellor".

He says: "It seems to me to be a very sensible step because universal credit is designed to make work pay, so if somebody takes on some extra hours they get to keep as much of that as possible."

Read more on the end of the £20 universal credit boost here

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Image source, UK government

Whisper it. After the economy took an absolute hammering during the pandemic, might the chancellor today be in a much cheerier political mood than he could have predicted?

During his Budget warm-up in the last few days, Rishi Sunak has already totted up promises of around an extra £20bn of spending.

Hold on for a second, though. On the specifics, there is no guarantee that unfreezing the wages of 2.5 million workers in England will mean they get pay rises that aren't eroded by inflation.

The same goes for increases for workers on low pay, and cuts to universal credit will pinch too.

Sunak wants to give the political impression that he's a chancellor we can all be comfortable with - careful with our money, but not afraid to spend it on things that matter.

But however many announcements there have already been, Budget warm-ups are just that. What matters is what Sunak actually says at lunchtime.

In the end, what matters are the numbers - what's in black and white.

Read more from Laura here.

Image source, UK Parliament

SNP Treasury spokesperson Alison Thewliss has accused Chancellor Rishi Sunak of presiding over “a widening inequality in the UK”.

“We have the worst inequality in north-west Europe in this country,” Thewliss tells BBC Breakfast.

“There is nothing that has been trailed in this Budget so far that suggests reducing inequality is a priority for this chancellor.”

She calls on Sunak to reverse the £20 cut to universal credit, describing it as “a real lifeline over the past 18 months”, the removal of which has left “a real hole in people’s pockets”.

Asked about the responsibilities of the Scottish government and what it is doing to help families in need in Scotland, the MP says it is doing “the very best we can with the powers we have”.

“We do not have the full benefit powers that would allow us to tackle poverty in the way the UK government has powers at the moment.”

One of the (many) pre-Budget announcements over the past week has been the news that a pay freeze for millions of public sector workers will be lifted.

When it was introduced last year, the Treasury said that freezing pay in 2020-21 had helped "to ensure fairness between the private and public sector".

But just how big - or small - is the gap in public and private sector wages?

And is it fair? Read more here.

Image source, EPA

Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Bridget Phillipson, describes the government's National Living Wage offer as "distinctly underwhelming."

The National Living Wage is due to rise from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour.

Speaking to BBC News ahead of the Budget, Phillipson says that "with everything getting more expensive, and hand-in-hand with the cut to universal credit [and] the increase in National Insurance that people are facing", a worker on universal credit would "still be £800 a year worse off".

She says the government is "choosing" not to make life easier for families.

"Smoke and mirrors from the government just won't cut it."

You can read more about the proposed changes to the National Living Wage here.

Image source, HM Treasury

This is Rishi Sunak's third budget since becoming chancellor, all of which have been delivered since the pandemic struck.

Last November, he warned Covid had caused an "economic emergency" and "extraordinary measures" were needed to protect people's jobs and incomes.

Now he says the economy is "firmly back on track" and he will invest in infrastructure, innovation and skills as well as public services.

So what should we be looking out for regarding tax and spending when Sunak gets to his feet in the chamber later today?

BBC economics editor Faisal Islam has written this handy guide.

Image source, Reuters

We've got more from Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who admits the fiscal landscape "does feel different from the economy I was expecting to be facing" a year ago.

"A year on, the city has come back stronger than I thought it would at the time, that's positive, but nevertheless this is still a very big challenge ahead of the chancellor today," he tells the Today programme.

He says there are "short-term pressures", such as the rising cost of living, as well as "massive long-term challenges", such as levelling up and net zero, "which are very much interlinked".

Burnham praises the government annoucement to raise the living wage, saying Labour has "won the argument".

He adds: "The question today is, as welcome as it is, how will it be funded?"

The chancellor "has to back it up with the funding that makes it possible".

Burnham goes on to say levelling up requires "serious investment", citing net zero "as the catalyst to a country that is more even and equal across the regions".

"You can't level up with one announcement."

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has suggested there may be a u-turn on the cut to universal credit in today's budget.

"We're hearing that there's going to be a change - particularly for those on universal credit in work," Burnham tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"That is a credit to the Labour Party, that has campaigned on that particular issue. I hope that is the rabbit that's in his hat today," he says.

"If he's going to do that, it's the right thing to do - this pandemic is not over, people are still feeling its impact."

You can read more about the debate over the £20 change to universal credit here.

Image source, UK government

Each year, the chancellor of the exchequer - who is in charge of the government's finances - makes a Budget statement to MPs in the House of Commons.

Today’s will be made at around 12:30 BST.

The Budget outlines the government's plans for raising or lowering taxes.

It also includes big decisions on what the government will spend money on - including health, schools, police and other public services.

This year's autumn Budget is unusual for two reasons:

• It's the second of the year - there was a Budget in March too
• It comes on the same day as the results of a spending review, external, which details how government will fund public services for the next three years

You can read more about the Budget here.