The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has upgraded its economic growth forecasts for 2017 from 1.4 to 2 per cent.
Meanwhile GDP has been downgraded to 1.6 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent in the years following 2017, and then to 2 per cent in 2021-22.
Inflation is forecast to rise to 2.4 per cent in 2017-18, before falling to 2.3 percent and 2 per cent in subsequent years.
Debt rose to 86.6 per cent this year, but is expected to fall to 79.8 per cent in 2021-22.
Hopes for a surplus by the end of the decade have been abandoned.
Public borrowing and spending:
Annual borrowing in 2016-17 will be £51.7 billion (£16.4 billion lower than forecast).
Borrowing is forecast to total £58.3 billion in 2017-18, £40.6 billion in 2018-19, £21.4 billion in 2019-20 and £20.6 billion in 2020-21.
Business and tax:
Business rates will be reformed, and will be consulted on before the next revaluation.
The basic-rate personal tax allowance will increase to £11,500 from April this year.
There will be £820 million invested in measures to combat tax avoidance and evasion.
A new financial penalty will be introduced from July 2017 for professionals who create schemes that are subsequently defeated by HMRC.
The Government has commissioned an investigation into tax arrangements for the self-employed. (Almost half of employment growth since 2008 has been self-employment).
The Treasury will raise £145 million for public services from increasing the national insurance contributions of self-employed people; the contributions will rise to 11 per cent by 2019.
The tax-free dividend allowance will be cut from £5,000 to £2,000 from April 2018.
Corporation tax will fall to 19 per cent from April this year; in 2020 it will fall again to 17 per cent.
There will be no increase in alcohol or tobacco duties on top of those that the Government has already announced.
There will be a new minimum excise duty on cigarettes.
£5 million will be allocated to promote ‘returnships’ in the public and private sectors, to support people back into employment after a career break.
Health:
£100 million will be allocated to place more GPs in A&E departments before next winter. This measure aims to decrease high A&E attendance rates across the country.
Despite the soft drinks levy producing less revenue than forecast (due to producers acting to reduce sugar content in their products), the Department for Education will still receive the promised £1 billion to fund school sports and healthy living programmes.
Education:
£300 million will be allocated to fund 1,000 new PhD places and fellowships in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.
Free school transport will be extended to all children on free school meals who attend a selective free school.
15 new ‘T-Levels’ will be introduced to improve parity of esteem between academic and technical education; they will provide an alternative to A-levels for 16-19 year olds.
Maintenance loans will be made available for higher level technical qualifications at new institutes for technology and national colleges.
Maintenance loans will be available for part-time undergraduates and doctoral students in all subjects, for the first time.
£40 million will be invested in lifelong learning project pilots.
£216 million will be invested in school maintenance.
Transport and infrastructure:
The north of England will receive £90 million for transport spending and the midlands will receive £23 million; the funding will seek to address ‘pinch points’ on roads.
£270 million will be allocated for new transport technologies such as driverless vehicles.
Local authorities will be able to compete for £690 million worth of funding to tackle urban congestion and improve local transport networks.
Local government and the devolved nations:
£350 million will be allocated to the Scottish government.
£200 million will be allocated to the Welsh government.
£120 million will be allocated to the Northern Ireland executive.
The Government announced that a deal has been made with the Mayor of London for further devolution from central government.
