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Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 14:15 GMT

At-a-glance: The Budget

Here are key points from Chancellor Gordon Brown's 10th Budget.

EDUCATION

Further education would be free of charge for the first time up to the age of 25, with adult learning grants to help with the cost of living

Resources would be redirected from "failing" college courses to the ones which employers wanted to see

Mr Brown said in the long term he wanted to raise the amount of capital funds for each state school pupil to the level seen in private schools now - £8,000

Over five years, investment in schools would rise from £5.6bn now to £8bn a year

£30bn of government assets, including the Tote bookmakers', would be sold off to fund priorities like education

DRINK AND TOBACCO

Duty on cigarettes will rise 9p

Tax rises 4p on wine and 1p on beer in line with inflation

Duty on spirits, sparkling wine and cider is frozen

SPORT

There would be £600m available to fund world-class British athletes

There would be an annual schools Olympics, held in a different city every year until 2012

There would be a new national sports foundation, with £34m from the government and other funding from private companies

There would be another £2m for evening sports clubs for young people in a scheme run by police, Premier League football clubs and community groups

ENVIRONMENT

Mr Brown said he rejected calls for the abolition of the climate change levy and instead would index the charge in line with inflation from 2007 to cut CO2 emissions further

He would propose a World Bank scheme to help developed economies to invest in new forms of energy in developing nations

A new £1bn energy and environmental research institute was being set up, funded by government and private industry

To make homes more environmentally friendly, Mr Brown promised new incentives for piloting "smart metering" and a new labelling scheme for energy efficient goods to make homes greener

A quarter of a million extra homes would be insulated over the next two years

Cars with the lowest rate of emissions would pay no vehicle excise duty but the 1% of most polluting cars would pay £210

Mr Brown postponed the usual annual inflation increase in fuel duty until 1 September

FAMILIES

The personal tax allowance would rise from £4,895 to £5,035

The child element of the child tax credit to rise by 14% over the next few years

Child Trust Funds to get an extra £250, or £750 when the children reached seven-years-old

Child care vouchers to increase by £5 a week by £55

HOMES

He said 160,000 new homes had been built in the last year

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott would give details of plans for £970m for shared equity schemes to help 35,000 people get onto the housing ladder

The exemption on stamp duty would be raised to £125,000 and the level at which inheritance tax begins to be paid would rise to from £275,000 to £325,000

INNOVATION

Mr Brown promised a comprehensive programme for recruiting and retaining staff, including signing up 3,000 science teachers and funding after-school science clubs in 250 schools.

BUDGET 2006

Read the Budget report in full (2.3M)

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Productivity was growing 2.3% - higher than at any time since the 1960s - said Mr Brown

Mr Brown said he was extending the research and development tax credit by doubling from 250 to 500 employees the size of companies able to claim higher credit

There would be new summer schools for entrepreneurs

The first £6bn in government efficiency savings had now been made, with cuts in civil service posts, said Mr Brown

CRIME AND TRANSPORT

By April next year, the number of community support officers will more than double from 6,000 to 16,000

There will be free off-peak national bus travel for pensioners and disabled people from April 2008

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Inflation was now 2% and on target and economic growth was 2.5% - again on target, said Mr Brown

Even with economic crises around the world, Britain's economy had proved "resilient, robust and prudent"

Mr Brown said in future official statistics would be published by an independent board

Public pay would on average rise 2.25% in the next year, showing financial discipline

Economic growth was 2.5% in the latest quarter and would be 2.75%-3.25% for 2007/8

BORROWING

The chancellor said he had met his "golden rule" on public borrowing and was on course for a £16bn surplus over the economic cycle ending in 2010-11

Net debt was now 36.4% of national income - and would rise to 38%

Net borrowing would be £37bn, £36bn next year, then £30bn and to £25bn, £24bn and £23bn in the years to 2010-11

DEFENCE

Funds would go to a memorial for the victims of the 7 July bombings in London and £1m would go to Britons injured in terrorist attacks at home and abroad

There would be £200m extra given to promote international peacekeeping and an extra £800m for the armed forces

EMPLOYMENT

There were now 170,000 more people in work than there were at the time of last year's Budget

Mr Brown promised to double training for women with low skills and addressing pay discrimination

CONSERVATIVE REACTION

Tory leader David Cameron branded Mr Brown as a "politician stuck in the past"

The chancellor had failed to deliver a truly "green Budget", saying: "In a carbon conscious world, we got a fossil fuel chancellor"

Business investment was at a record low, said Mr Cameron and the tax burden was at its highest level ever

The government was borrowing £175bn over six years, said Mr Cameron, arguing: "This chancellor is mortgaging this country's future"

Labour MPs might see Mr Brown as the "salvation from the mess they are in this week" but he was the architect of failing policies, argued Mr Cameron

The Tory leader concluded: "He is an analogue politician in a digital age. He is the past"

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT RESPONSE

Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell accused Mr Brown of complacency over the environment and of presiding over a Treasury which could not even manage its own tax credits system

Sir Menzies said there was no council tax rebate this year - leaving some of the most vulnerable people to suffer

The Budget had missed an opportunity to tackle unfair taxes, face up to the pension crisis and tackle personal debt, he added

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