Budget at a glance

The main points of Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget:

Health

NHS spending to rise to £54.2bn in 2000-2001, to £58.6bn in 2001-2002, £63.5bn in 2002-3 and £68.7bn in 2003-4

Extra £2bn for NHS from 1 April

Spending per household on NHS to rise to £2,800 by 2004

Plans to recruit and train up to 10,000 more nurses

NHS allocations announced for four years

Education

More 16 year olds to benefit from education maintenance allowance worth up to £30 a week

A total of £300m for new investment in schools

Primary schools to receive £3,000 to £9,000 payment in drive for literacy and numeracy

Schools offering special tuition will be able to draw on an extra £20m

In April, 3,500 secondary schools will receive between £30,000 and £50,000

Overall, extra £1bn for education from 1 April

Transport and crime

Extra £280m available for transport

Extra £285m available to fight crime

Tobacco and alcohol

Tobacco taxes to rise by 5% above inflation, all extra revenue to go to the NHS

New measures to tackle tobacco smuggling

Wine to rise by 4p a bottle

Beer to rise by 1p a pint

Duty on spirits frozen

Insurance tax frozen

Flights

New lower rates of air passenger duty (APD) on economy flights within the UK and to much of Europe

APD rates remain at £20 for flights outside Europe

New business class APD rate of £40 outside Europe

APD on flights from Scottish Highlands and Islands to be abolished

Stamp duty

Stamp duty raised to 3% for purchases above £250,000 and 4% for purchases above £500,000

Consultation on reducing stamp duty for developments on brown-field sites

Road and fuel tax

Vehicle excise duty rates for 38 and 41 tonne lorries cut by £500. Rate for 40 tonne lorries cut by £1,800. All other lorry rates frozen

New vehicle excise duty for newly purchased cars from 1 March 2001

Reduced vehicle excise duty rate extended to all cars at 1200cc or below

Vehicle excise duty for all cars frozen to 1 March 2001

Ultra-low-sulphur petrol duty to be set at 1p below other petrol from 1 October

No real terms increase in road fuel duty, up 2p a litre

Pensioners

Minimum income guarantee raised to £82 for single pensioner and for a pensioner over 80 it will be £90 a week

Winter fuel allowance raised by £50 to £150

"Affordable warmth" programme to install cheaper and energy-efficient heating for pensioners and others on low income

Cut-off point for income support eligibility for pensioners raised to savings of £12,000

Capital rules on minimum income guarantee doubled to £6,000 savings

Pensioners' tax allowance will be set at £5,790 for those aged 65-74 and £6,050 for over-75s

Charity

Government to add 25p to every pound given to charity

Government to add up to 50p of tax relief for every pound given through the pay roll

Companies to receive tax relief on full amount of donations from 1 April

Ticket sales for fund raising events to be exempt from tax

Children

Integrated support for children by 2003

Children's tax credit to rise to £442 from its introduction next April

Network of children's funds to be set up in every region with cash allocated from the spending review

Poorest children to receive increase of £4.35 in weekly support

Maternity benefits

Mothers on maternity leave to be able to stay on WFTC

Sure start maternity grant increased to £300

Review of maternity pay and parental leave

Employment

Tougher penalties for fraudulent claims to be imposed from 2001

Extra help for lone parents with children over the age of five

New deal to be extended to long term adult unemployed

New job grant for long term unemployed starting at £100 and help with rent or mortgage

Long term unemployed aged over 50 will be guaranteed a minimum income for first year back in work, £60 a week for wages up to £15,000

Working families tax credit to rise from next April from £200 to £214

New rules for work permits in information technology

£50 tax cut for electronic filing of WFTC

£100 tax cut for electronic filing of tax and VAT returns

Withholding tax on interest paid in international bonds to be abolished.

40% capital allowance for small and medium sized businesses will be made permanent

£150m for new research and development costs

Tax reductions for small businesses buying computers or investing in technology

All employee shareholders to benefit from10% capital gains tax rate

New capital gains tax rates for business assets cut to 35% after one year, 30% after two years, 20% after three years, 10% after four years

Public spending and borrowing

Current public spending to be increased by 2.5% a year for three years from 2001

Net borrowing in 2001-2 to be minus £5bn then plus £3bn from 2002-3

Net borrowing to be minus £6.5bn in 2000/2001

Current surplus forecast at £14bn next year and £16bn, £13bn, £8bn and £8bn in following years.

Debt to GDP ratio to fall to 33% by 2003-2004

Budget is in surplus by £12bn

Debt repayment of £12bn in 2000

Growth forecast to be 2.25% to 2.75% for 2001 and 2002

Growth forecast to rise to 2.75% to 3.25% for 2000

Growth in the British economy stood at 2% last year

Inflation is in line with 2.5% target which will be met for 2000, 2001, 2002