George Osborne delivers Autumn Statement and Spending Review
The chancellor says he has abandoned planned cuts to tax credits
Police budgets also escape cuts with economy boosted by £27bn windfall
Labour says working families will still lose out
Autumn Statement sets out state of UK economy and signals tax and welfare plans
Spending Review set out details of plans to cut government spending over next few years
Big cheers from the Conservative benches as George Osborne reminds the House that Scotland voted to remain in the UK. He says Scotland is stronger in the UK than outside it - and says the Scottish block grant will be more than £30bn in 2019-20. Had Scotland gone independent, falling oil revenues would have meant "catastrophic cuts" in public services, he claims.
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George Osborne sets aside £12bn for the Local Growth Fund and announces 26 new or extended Enterprise Zones, including 15 in towns and rural areas across the country.
He also announces reforms to business rates. He says uniform business rate will be abolished and local government will get to keep revenue from business rates by the end of the Parliament. Councils will be able to keep 100% of receipts on assets they sale to spend on local services, the chancellor say - telling MPs councils own property worth a quarter of a trillion pounds.
Quote MessageThis amounts to a big package of new powers but also new responsibilities for local council. It's a revolution in the way we govern in this country."
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Here are the forecasts George Osborne set out;
George Osborne says from next year the basic state pension will rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week, as expected. The biggest real terms increase in 50 years, he says.
Osborne announces scrapping of tax credits cuts
This is the Chancellor's tax credit U-turn.
Turning to social care, the chancellor says local authorities will be able to levy a "social care precept" of up to 2% in council tax, which, he says, must be spent exclusively on social care.
George Osborne explains that he's increasing the Better Care Fund to support that reform. And it means that by the end of the Parliament social care spending will have risen in "real terms", he adds.
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George Osborne is now addressing mental health, and says there'll be £600m extra funding in this area.
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George Osborne says the government - and public's - first priority is the NHS. He says funding has been increasing in England, but is being cut in Wales where a Labour government is in power. He says the government is delivering £6bn up front to the NHS next year, to fund NHS chief executive Simon Stevens' five-year forward review.
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BBC economics correspondent Andy Verity tweets:
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