In Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, chancellor George Osborne said the so-called triple lock on pensions will be retained for pensioners, which means they receive an extra £3.35 per week – a total £119.30 per week.
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“We will need to see the full detail of what the Chancellor has announced in his autumn statement, but if he has abandoned the tax credit cuts he proposed in the Budget that will be a huge relief to millions of working families who were set to suffer huge losses of income”.
Unveiling his Spending Review in the House of Commons, the Chancellor said he could abandon the controversial tax credit cuts of £4.4 billion due to improvements in public finances.
Concluding his speech, Mr Osborne said: “Five years ago, when I presented my first Spending Review, the country was on the brink of bankruptcy and our economy was in crisis”.
“We are the builders!” he said to cheers.
“Now is not the time for further police cuts”.
“There will be no cuts in the police budget all, ” he added to cheers and loud applause.
But with Osborne stating in parliament that “now is the time to back our police and give them the tools to do the job”, overall police spending will now be protected in line with inflation.
“This doesn’t mean that tomorrow there’s going to be hundreds of bobbies on the beat and everything will be rosy, but we’re coming to the end of some very damaging cuts”. The Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent agency, estimated that public finances would be 27 billion pounds ($40 billion) better off next year than it had forecast in July.
Mr Osborne said he would also stop abuse of the intangible fixed assets regime and capital allowances.
He also announced 26 new Enterprise Zones – offering tax breaks and fast-track planning – including 15 in towns.
“The cuts of recent years have been hard and there remain difficult times ahead, but we must now take this opportunity”.
However, he warned the cuts simply a “reprieve” from the Government’s austerity measures.
As he announced plans to trim public spending across Whitehall departments, Osborne repeatedly stressed the now-familiar theme of security, saying: “economic and national security provide the foundations for everything we want to support”. But if areas such as the NHS, schools, defence and aid – all protected from cuts – are excluded, the average reduction in day-to-day spending is a more daunting 19%, with transport (37%), communities (29%) and the Treasury (24%) worst hit.
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Mr Osborne imposed a levy on business worth 0.5% of employers’ paybills to pay for three million apprenticeships, but said that all but the biggest 2% of companies will be exempted from the charge.
