Autumn Statement and Spending Review 2015: what it means for you

'George the Builder' was in action in Parliament, outlining what he billed as a Spending Review to rebuild Britain. As well as the usual bold claims of being in it together, and the party that had rescued the country from financial ruin, Osborne claimed he would build a better society.

Much of the fiscal work was done for him, as tax receipts were higher than forecast, and inflation and interest on debts lower, so he was able to report improved forecasts. The Office of Budget Responsibility now forecasts GDP growth at 2.4% this year, and maintaining a similar rate until 2020/21. The surplus is now predicted for 2019/20. It means the government will have to borrow £8 billion less than it forecast, and it can spend £12 billion more on capital investments.

Welfare
There were concerns that Osborne would plough ahead with a slightly altered version of his tax credit cuts, but the better financial position meant he had the cash for a massive U-turn. He ruled out cuts to tax credits - and instead will leave things as they are until Universal Credit comes in - and presumably opens the door for more cuts.

However, there were some cuts blurted out among the announcements - helping cut the DWP budget by 14% - notably capping housing benefit for new social housing tenants - and axing housing benefits and pension credits for people who leave the country for more than a month. New JobSeekers' Allowance claimants will also have to attend a job centre once a week for three months.

Housing
The good news was announced in advance, with Osborne pledging to double the housing budget and build 400,000 affordable homes. In addition, he announced that half of them would be starter homes sold at a 20% discount for the under 40s. There will also be 135,000 set aside as help-to-buy shared ownership properties.

There will be a new London Help-To-Buy, offering 40% loans to people in the capital with 5% deposits. And there will be a 3% higher rate of stamp duty for people buying second homes and buy to let properties.

National Security
David Cameron had already announced a pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defence, in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. Osborne also pledged to continue to give 0.7% for international aid - including in places like Syria, but the rabbit out of the hat this time was that Osborne also announced no cuts to police budgets - although he still expects 'efficiencies' from things liked merged back offices.

Tax
The Cabinet Office will have a 26% budget cut, and the Treasury 24%. HMRC will have its budget cut 18%, which means cutting tax offices. However, he announced that £800 million would be invested in combating tax evasion, and more in digital developments, that mean we all get our own digital tax account by the end of the decade.

There will be a number of other reforms - issued rapid-fire - including combating stamp duty avoidance and setting a deadline for the payment of CGT.

NHS
There will be 25% cuts for the Department of Health, and the NHS will be expected to make £22 billion in 'efficiency savings' - which sounds like another way of saying 'cuts'.

Meanwhile, however, Osborne pledged more money for the NHS - with £6 billion more next year - so he therefore positioned this as investing in the health service.

He announced some specific investments, including new hospitals, £600 million funding for mental health, and a new dementia centre - as well as pledging cancer tests within four weeks and a 7-day-a-week health service.

There was bad news for nurses, who as well as ending up with even more anti-social shifts, will no longer receive training grants and instead will have to take out loans - although this was billed as good news because it will mean they can afford more training places - for anyone who wants to borrow a lot of money in order to qualify for a horribly underpaid job.

Social Care
There was a real boost to social care funding, but with the proviso that we'll all be paying for it. Local authorities were given permission to levy a 2% precept on council tax - ringfenced for spending on social care, which along with additional funding means Osborne was able to suggest £2 billion more for social care (without mentioning that the lion's share of this will come from tax-payers).

%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-pensions%Pensions
Osborne reiterated his commitment to the triple lock, and announced that the basic state pension next year will be £119.30 a week, and that savings credit would be frozen. He also finally set the flat rate state pension at £155.65 (without going into detail about how few people will receive it).

Devolution
There were the usual promises for more help for the regions including 26 new enterprise zones and the usual talk of mayorships. However there was also a real change - because more power was given to councils to raise money. They will be able to set their own business rates and keep them all to spend on infrastructure. They will also be able to sell their assets and keep all the cash.

On a country-wide level Northern Ireland is now able to set its own corporation tax (12.5%), Wales will be allowed to take control of income tax without a referendum, and Osborne urged Scotland to come to the table.

Transport
The budget will be cut 37%, but capital spending will increase on all the projects Osborne has talked about in many budgets before. He also pledged to fund road maintenance and a permanent pothole fund.

Business
The Business budget is down 17%, but the small business rate relief scheme will be extended for another year.

Sanitary products
Responding to the outcry against VAT on sanitary products, Osborne said he had to continue charging 5% under EU law, but would donate the money to women's charities in the same way Libor money is donated to the military and emergency services.

Childcare
The government will extend free childcare as promised in its manifesto - and invest £6 billion in nurseries - paid for in part by restricting the 30 hours of free childcare to those who work more than 16 hours a week and earn less than £100,000.

Education
Osborne outlined the aim to make all schools academies - including sixth form colleges - eventually. There will more funding for school buildings and places, and fairer funding for disadvantaged pupils. For university students there was the promise of access to maintenance loans for part time students and tuition fee loans for F/E colleges and postgraduate students.

Science and Culture
The science budget will be protected in real terms, and Culture, Media and Sport will see cuts of 20% - although national museums and galleries remain free, there will be 29% more funding for Sport England and more money for BBC Worldwide.

Defra
The budget will be cut 15%, but flood protection will be funded - along with £50 off bills for SW Water customers

Prisons
Victorian prisons will be sold off (starting with Holloway) and new prisons built.

Energy
There will be 22% budget cuts, but more funding for nuclear and shale gas. The removal of the diesel supplement for company car owners will be postponed for a year, a new, cheaper, energy efficiency scheme will help people save £30 a year on their bills, and a consultation on ending cash compensation for whiplash claims is expected to cut car insurance premiums by up to £50.