Budget 2010: the key points

Economy • The impact of the economic crisis has meant the UK economy has shrunk by about 6% over the recession • Growth forecast for 2011 revised down to between 3% and 3.5%. Predicted growth of 1-1.25% in 2010 in line with forecasts • Borrowing will be £11bn lower this year, at £167bn. It should be £163bn next year, £131bn in 2011-12 and £110bn in 2013-14. It will reach £74bn in 2014-15, £8bn lower than forecast in December • The reduction in the deficit will go from 11.8% of GDP to 5.2%, more than halved over four years Taxes • Tax on bank bonuses raised £2bn in 2009-10, twice as much as forecast • More systematic tax on banks is needed. It should be internationally co-ordinated • Doubling of stamp duty allowance, from £125,000 to £250,000, funded by 5% stamp duty for properties worth more than £1m • Inheritance tax threshold frozen for next four years • Tax information agreements with Dominica, Grenada and Belize • Business rates cut for one year from October, so 345,000 businesses will pay no rates at all • No further announcements on VAT, national insurance and income tax Jobs • For older workers, an extension of tax credits • Length of time over-65s have to work to receive work credits is reduced • For next two years, no one under 24 will need to be unemployed for longer than six months before being offered work or training • Total of 15,000 civil servants relocated, including 1,000 Ministry of Justice posts moved out of London Drinks, cigarettes and fuel • Duty on cider will increase by 10% above inflation from Sunday. Duty on beer, wine and spirits will increase as planned from midnight Sunday • Tobacco duty will rise immediately by 1% above inflation this year, then 2% • Increase in fuel duty to be staged. Fuel duty to rise by a penny in April followed by a further 1p rise in October and the remainder in January Businesses • RBS and Lloyds will provide £94bn in new business loans, nearly half to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), over next year • A new credit adjudicator will fast-track complaints from smaller firms who say they have been unfairly denied credit • Faster licensing process for new banks to boost competition • Increase of 15% in the number of central government contracts going to SMEs • A new national investment corporation, UK Finance For Growth, will streamline and improve government help to SMEs • New growth capital fund to provide capital for fast growing firms • Investment allowance for small firms doubled to £100,000 Jobs • A £2.5bn one-off growth package paid for by switching spending in some areas, with the extra proceeds from the tax on bank bonuses, announced last year • Number of civil servants in London to be reduced by a third, with 15,000 posts relocated outside the capital within five years • Public-pay settlements will be held at a maximum of 1% for the two years from 2011 Education • A £35m university enterprise capital fund to support university innovation and spin-off companies • A £270m fund to create 20,000 university places in subjects such as science, maths, engineering Banking and savings • Everyone to have a basic bank account , bringing an extra million people into the banking system over next five years • From next month the annual Isa limit to rise from £7,200 to £10,200, and Isa limits to increase annually Defence • Over £4bn next year for operations in Afghanistan Infrastructure and environment • £100m set aside for repairs to local roads, £285m for improvements to motorways • A £2bn green investment bank , using £1bn of public cash matched with private funds • £60m to develop ports hosting manufacturers of offshore wind turbines Tax credits and allowances • Parents of one- and two-year-old children to get an increase of £4 a week in child tax credit from 2012 • The pensioners' higher winter fuel payment of £250 and £400 for the over-80s, guaranteed for another year Savings • From October next year, the most expensive properties will be excluded from the housing benefit calculation in each area, which will, added to anti-fraud measures, save £250m a year • Departments will publish details about how to achieve £11bn of new savings.