BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Main points: Darling statement

BBC NEWS / UK POLITICS
Graphics Version BBC Sport Home

Tuesday, 9 October 2007, 16:05 GMT 17:05 UK

Main points: Darling statement

The main points from Chancellor Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report and Comprehensive Spending Review statement:

TAXES

The inheritance tax threshold for married couples and those in civil partnerships will rise to £600,000 from today and £700,000 by 2010.

The main rate of corporation tax will be cut by 2p in the pound to 28% by next year.

READ THE REPORT

Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader

See documents and speech in full

Mr Darling promised to reform the capital gains tax system, ensuring those working in private equity pay a "fairer share". There will be a single rate of 18%.

A number of "loopholes" for non-domiciled tax payers will be examined, Mr Darling said. Tory plans to charge a flat rate of £25,000 to such people would mean only 15,000 paying, he added. This would mean revenue of £650m a year, rather than £3.5bn that the Tories had estimated, Mr Darling said.

Grants to local authorities for local services in England will increase to £26bn by 2010 to ensure local authorities can keep council tax rises substantially below 5%, Mr Darling said.

HEALTH

Over the next three years the NHS will increase its funding by an average of 4% above the rate of inflation.

Investment in health in England to rise from £90bn this year to £110bn by 2010.

Mr Darling said the single fund for health research would be expanded to £1.7bn by 2010.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

The education and skills budget will rise to £74bn by 2010.

An additional £2bn will be invested in 2010 in health and education, Mr Darling said, including a £250m fund to ensure all children at school are ready to learn and benefit from personalised support.

Investment on science and technology to rise to £6bn in three years' time.

HOUSING

The government will spend more than £4bn over the next three years to help people in poor-quality housing make renovations.

Proposals are to be brought forward in the Budget to help lenders provide more fixed-rate mortgages for 10 years or even longer.

THE ECONOMY

Mr Darling said it was a time of "increased economic uncertainty" with "turbulence in America, Asia and Europe" .

There would be "no risks with unaffordable promises that put the public finances at risk".

UK economic growth is expected to be between 2% and 2.5% next year, the chancellor said. And for 2009/2010 the figure would be 2.5% to 3%, he added.

Mr Darling said he expected to make a statement on Northern Rock later this week.

PUBLIC FINANCES

The government will keep net debt at a sustainable level during the next economic cycle, Mr Darling said.

Net borrowing was forecast to fall from £38bn this year to £23bn in 2012.

Government departments will save a further £30bn by 2010, on top of £20bn of savings already achieved, the chancellor said.

DEFENCE/TERROR/CRIME

Mr Darling allocated an extra £400m for military operations abroad this year.

He announced a new single budget for the police, security services and other agencies to deal with terrorism, to rise by £1bn a year to £3.5bn in three years' time.

Extra spending on the Home Office and Ministry of Justice is to rise to £20bn by 2010, Mr Darling said.

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND OVERSEAS AID

Mr Darling said aviation duty would be paid on flights, rather than individual passengers.

An extra £200m will be given for free pensioner bus travel next year, he added.

By 2010, the transport budget will rise to £14.5bn a year, including projects to widen some motorways.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs budget will rise to £4bn in three years' time, including £800m by 2010 for flood defences.

The overseas aid budget will rise to £9bn by 2010.

BENEFITS AND PENSIONS

The amount of child maintenance a family can receive without it affecting their benefits will double from £20 a week to £40 a week by 2010.

Pension credits will rise £5 a week from next April for single people and £7.65 for couples.

CULTURE

There would be an inflation increase for arts and culture spending, Mr Darling said. The budget for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will rise to £2.2bn in three years.

By 2010, there will be £460m spent on the British Council, the BBC World Service and the launch of BBC Farsi and Arabic TV channels.

E-mail this to a friend

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Treasury
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites