Washminster

Washminster
Washminster

Thursday 9 March 2017

Budget Documents

The speech that the Chancellor gave in the House of Commons is available here. Yesterday,s Hansard - with the debate which started immediately afterwards is available here. The debate will continue today, resume on Monday 14th and conclude on Tuesday 15th March.

Documents related to the Budget, published by HM Treasury are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2017-documents. These include

The Red Book - which includes the Budget Report and the Office of Budget Responsibility's Budget forecasts.


More details on the policies and impacts of budget measures are also available through the above link.

In summary, the Government makes the following claims about its' approach -

"As the UK begins the formal process of exiting the European Union, the Spring Budget puts economic stability first. Following a period of robust economic growth, record levels of employment and a falling deficit, it sets out further progress in restoring the public finances to health. Building on the Industrial Strategy, it goes further in tackling the UK’s productivity challenge.

The Budget sets out actions the government will take to:

* help young people from ordinary working families across the country get the skills they need to do the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future, vital for a competitive workforce

* give more children the chance to go to a good or outstanding school that sets them up to succeed

* support the social care system with substantial additional funding, so people get the care they deserve as they grow older, and support both local NHS plans and improvements to Accident and Emergency with new capital investment

* invest in cutting-edge technology and innovation, so Britain continues to be at the forefront of the global technology revolution

*continue to bring down the deficit so the UK gets back to living within its means, and can fund public services for the long-term through a fair and sustainable tax system

By investing in the future, the Budget helps make the most of the opportunities ahead by laying the foundations of a stronger, fairer, better Britain – a country that works for everyone.

The Spring Budget also marks the transition to a single fiscal event each year, an autumn Budget."

Analysis of the budget can be found at

Professor Michael-Gad, City University, London