Autumn Statement and Spending Review as it happened: George Osborne scraps tax credit cuts as he outlines plans

Tom Marshall25 November 2015
WEST END FINAL

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George Osborne today announced a U-turn on his controversial plans to axe tax credits as he gave his Autumn Statement.

Speaking for more than an hour, he delivered spending plans for the next five years which include some of the deepest cuts in recent memory.

He said he had "listened to the concerns" and that he could abandon the controversial tax credit cuts of £4.4 billion due to improvements in public finances.

He told the Commons: "I've had representations that these changes to tax credits should be phased in.

"I've listened to the concerns. I hear and understand them.

"And because I've been able to announce today an improvement in the public finances, the simplest thing to do is not to phase these changes in, but to avoid them altogether."

He also pledged to protect policing budgets with no cuts in real terms and outlined measures to help boost home ownership, including a new London 'help to buy' scheme.

Other measures included plans to close Holloway prison, extend right-to-buy to housing associations and to give the £15 million raised from the "tampon tax" to women's charities.

Here are some of the highlights:

1.37pm: The Chancellor announces there will be no cuts in the policing budget. "The police protect us and we are going to protect the police," he says.

1.32pm: George Osborne says controversial plans to roll out right-to-buy to housing association properties will go ahead. From tonight, tenants of five housing associations will be able to buy their homes.

He also pledges to aid London housebuyers with a new London 'help to buy' scheme.

1.24pm: George Osborne pledges to help every secondary school in the country to become an academy.

Sixth-form colleges will also be able to become academies for the first time, so they do not have to pay VAT.

“We will make local authorities running schools a thing of the past,” he says.

He also announces new support for students by offering maintenance loans to part-time students.

1.20pm: He notes that 300,000 signed a petition saying that no VAT should be charged on sanitary products and says "we're commited to getting the EU to change its rules".

But until that happens, Osborne announces plans to use the £15 million raised from the "tampon tax" to fund women's health and support charities.

He also says there will be a new memorial to the victims of the 7/7 attacks.

1.09pm: On Scotland, the Chancellor says that with oil revenues down by about 90 per cent, it would have seen "catastrophic cuts" in public services had it voted for independence - but that Scotland "thankfully remains a strong part of a stronger United Kingdom."

1.03pm: The basic state pension will rise by £3.35 per week from next year, which he says is the biggest real terms increase for 50 years.

The Chancellor also pledges to increase social care funding and announces a £600 funding boost for mental health care.

12.59pm: Osborne turns to the NHS. He says he will "give the NHS the money it needs" and announces a £10 billion increase in the health service budget, with the first £6 billion coming "up front" next year.

The NHS budget will rise from £101 billion to £120 billion by 2020/2021 - the "largest investment in the health service since its creation".

12.51pm: George Osborne on tax credits: "I’ve had representations that these changes to tax credits should be phased in.

"I’ve listened to the concerns. I hear and understand them. And because I’ve been able to announce today an improvement in the public finances, the simplest thing to do is not to phase these changes in, but to avoid them altogether.

"Tax credits are being phased out anyway as we introduce universal credit."

12.48pm: George Osborne announces he will abandon his controversial £4.4 billion tax credit cuts plans, with no changes before 2020.

"I have listened to the concerns, I hear and understand them," he said. He says they are being phased out anyway.

He also said he will borrow £8 billion less than previously forecast and will achieve a surplus by cutting less.

George Osborne: Scrapping tax credit cuts
PA

12.42pm: George Osborne promises to reach a surplus by 2019/2020 and says the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has approved this forecast.

He says more than a million more jobs will be created over the next five years.

12.37pm: Osborne says his spending review puts the nation's security first - economic and national security.

He says 'our job is to rebuild Britain' and promises that he is committed to delivering a surplus. 'This a big spending review by a government that does big things,' he says.

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