Osborne attributed the improved outlook for Britain’s finances, drawn up by an independent budget watchdog, to slightly higher economic growth forecasts in the next two years and lower debt costs than previously thought as yields on British government bonds stay low.
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Mrs Barnes, who watched the spending review while attending a policing conference in Manchester, said: “We had been preparing ourselves for devastating cuts of between 25% and 40%”.
Mr Osborne’s plans are geared towards the Government having a surplus in 2019, the final full year of this Parliament.
Elsewhere in his spending review the Osborne protected spending on front-line police forces, allaying fears they would suffer further cuts as they have done over the last five years.
“I think that a lot of care providers are going to be looking very carefully at their books in light of the statement and undoubtedly some providers may go out of business because there is not a real solution there”, Mason said. “Every single one of those predictions have proved to be completely wrong”.
But George Osbourne announced today he would not be reducing the Home Office police budget in England and Wales.
Welcoming the announcements made, Lawes said: “We are accustomed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s bi-annual statements including “rabbit out of the hat” moments and today was no different”.
“New Resolution Foundation analysis shows that these cuts fall overwhelmingly on poor working families”, he said.
“We’ve been given an olive branch to retain those highly valued services and we’ve got to make sure we support the elderly and vulnerable in the best way possible”.
Chancellor George Osborne lifted the lid on plans for a so-called Transport Development Fund to help identify large-scale infrastructure projects which could be built across the country.
Early years providers will receive an increase in the average hourly rate from 2017-18, which the Government says will be provided through a £300m a year investment. We will maintain funding for free infant school meals, protect rates for the pupil premium, and increase the cash in the dedicated schools grant.
The Spending Review also saw planned £4.4bn in tax credit cuts abandoned.
The promise, in today’s announcement about Tory spending plans for the next five years, surprised many commentators who had predicted police would face further budget reductions.
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Pensioners will get a pay rise after Osborne said the basic state pension will rise to £119.30 a week from April 2016.
