13:51
Chancellor announces £6.7bn of capital investment for schools

13:47
Ms Reeves says she will provide a "£22bn increase in the day-to-day health budget, and a £3.1bn increase in the capital budget". This will be provided before the end of 2025, she says.

13:47
Reeves confirms future of rail projects and funding for road improvements

The chancellor turns next to rail transport, and his out the Tories for having "made a number of promises" but "failed to fund them".

Rachel Reeves announces that they are "securing" the Trans-Pennine upgrade to connect York, Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester, which will deliver "fully electric local and regional services between Manchester and Stalybridge by the end of this year".

There will be "a further electrification of services between Church Fenton and York by 2026", which will "help grow our economy across the North of England with faster and more reliable services".

She next pledges to deliver East-West Rail, which will "drive growth between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge".

The chancellor next turns to HS2, and says they are today "securing delivery of the project between Old Oak Common and Birmingham".

She goes on: "And we are committing the funding required to begin tunnelling work to London Euston station, catalysing private investment into the local area."

Alongside that, she announces funding for "significant improvements to our road network", which includes a £500m increase in road maintenance budgets next year, which, she notes, is "more than delivering on our manifesto commitment to fix an additional one million potholes per year".


13:44
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that a £3 bus fare cap will be extended for a further year, to December 2025. This has risen from £2 for a single trip fare.

13:39
Chancellor confirms £5bn to help build 1.5 million new homes this parliament

Turning to the matter of housing, Rachel Reeves confirms that £5bn of investment will help to deliver Labour's manifesto promise on house building.

The party committed in its manifesto to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament.

The chancellor says: "Today, I am providing over £5bn of government investment to deliver our plans on housing next year."

Additionally, the Treasury will increase the Affordable Homes Programme to £3.1bn, which Ms Reeves says will deliver "thousands of new homes".

"We will provide £3bn of support in guarantees to boost the supply of homes and support our smaller housebuilders.

"And we will provide investment to renovate sites across our country, including at Liverpool Central Docks, where we will deliver 2,000 new homes, and funding to help Cambridge realise its full growth potential."

13:39
She says the government will protect government investments in research and development "to unlock these growth industries of the future" with more than £20bn of funding, The chancellor adds it will include at least £6.1bn to protect core research funding for areas like engineering, biotechnology and medical science.

13:32
The Scottish government will be handed £3.4bn in funding, which Ms Reeves says "must now be spent effectively to improve public services".

13:29
Reeves confirms the VAT levied on private school fees will come into effect in just over two months time - a 20% hike.
VAT on private school fees will apply from January 2025 and removal of business rates relief from next April.

13:29
Rachel Reeves reiterates that the government is conducting a Strategic Defence Review that will be published next year, and that the government "will set a path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence at a future fiscal event".

But for today, she announces an increase in the Ministry of Defence's budget of £2.9bn next year.

This will ensure the UK "comfortably exceeds our NATO commitments" and guarantees military support to Ukraine of "£3bn per year, for as long as it takes", as previously announced

13:26
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also confirmed that the core schools budget will increase by £2.3bn in 2025

13:20
From 2028-29, personal tax thresholds will be uprated in line with inflation once again.

13:16
the first £325,000 of any estate can be inherited tax-free," she says, "rising to £500,000 if the estate includes a residence passed to direct descendants, and £1m when a tax-free allowance is passed to a surviving spouse or civil partner.

Lastly, they will reform Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.

She tells the House: "From April 2026, the first £1m of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax at all, but for assets over £1m, inheritance tax will apply with 50% relief, at an effective rate of 20%."


13:13
A 1.2 percentage point increase in employers' national insurance to 15% for every employee. 
Reeves reduces the threshold at which companies start making contributions from £9,100 to £5,000.
A huge tax rise worth £25bn - nearly two-thirds of the tax hikes in the budget - but highly controversial. 

13:10
Capital gains tax increases to 18% on lower rate and 24% on higher rate.

Reeves tells the Commons that capital gains tax (CGT) will increase.

This tax is charged on profits which are made from selling assets such as a second home or investments, including shares.

The lower rate of Capital Gains Tax will rise from from 10% to 18%, and the higher rate from 20% to 24%, she says.

The CPA on residential property will remain at 18% and 24%.

13:09
Reeves says she is increasing employment allowance to help smaller businesses.

The employment allowance will increase from £5,000 to £10,500, which the chancellor says will mean 865,000 employers won’t pay any National Insurance at all next year.

She adds over one million will pay the same or less as they did previously.

13:07
Rachel Reeves announces that she is increasing the amount in national insurance contributions that employers pay.

She tells that House that increase by 1.2 percentage points, to 15%, from April 2025.

In addition, the secondary threshold - the level at which employers start paying national insurance on an employee's salary - will fall from £9,100 per year to £5,000.

These measures will raise £25bn a year, the chancellor says.

"I know that this is a difficult choice. I do not take this decision lightly," she says.

13:06
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has just confirmed that a fuel duty freeze will continue for another year.

13:06
Protection for working people from unfair dismissal, safeguard them from bullying in the workplace, and improve their access to paternity and maternity leave.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has just confirmed that a fuel duty freeze will continue for another year.

13:05
Reduction of the level of debt repayments that can be taken from a household’’s Universal Credit payment each month, reducing it from 25% to 15% of their standard allowance.

12:56
National Living Wage for people aged 21 or older will rise by 6.7% from £11.44 an hour to £12.21 from next April.

12:52
The chancellor confirms that taxes will rise by £40bn in this budget.

12:45pm
The chancellor tells the House: "Today, for the very first time, we will provide specific funding to compensate those infected and those affected, in full."

£11.8bn is being set aside for victims of the infected blood scandal, and another £1.8bn for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

8:00am
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