BUDGET 2011: We're sticking to plan, says George Osborne
Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a budget for "growth and jobs" today and declared: "Britain has a plan and we're sticking to it".
But he announced a cut growth forecasts amid continuing bad economic news.
Mr Osborne promised help for families with the cost of living and high oil prices, and the economic stability he said was needed for sustainable growth.
He said despite inheriting a record deficit, the budget would not be a tax-raising package.
But he added: "Nor can we afford a give-away."
He said the Office for Budget Responsibility had downgraded predictions of growth for this year from 2.1% to 1.7%, blaming a weaker than expected final quarter of last year, the rise in commodity prices and the higher-than-expected inflation.
He said the OBR expected inflation to remain between 4% and 5% for most of this year, before dropping to 2.5% next year and then to 2% in two years' time.
The black hole in the public finances will be greater than previous OBR predictions, coming in at £122 billion next year instead of £117 billion, he said.
It will then fall to £101 billion the year after, to £70 billion in 2013-14, then to £46 billion and to £29 billion by 2015-16, Mr Osborne said.
The Chancellor announced a raft of measures he said would make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business.
Many of the measures had been widely trailed but the centrepiece was another cut in corporation tax paid by businesses - down 2% instead of the 1% previously announced.
And there would be 1% falls in each of the following three years, he added.
He confirmed a shake-up in planning rules which will make all bodies involved in planning give priority to growth and jobs.
But there was a new squeeze on so-called non-doms - wealthy entrepreneurs who have been accused of avoiding their fair share of tax using their special tax status.
The last government introduced a £30,000 charge for those who had lived here for seven years.
Mr Osborne said he was increasing the charge to £50,000 for non-doms who have been in the country for 12 years, a move he said would raise over £200 million in the coming years.
As expected he set in motion plans to merge income tax and National Insurance contributions as part of a push to simplify the tax system.
However, he warned that the process would take several years to complete.
He also confirmed proposals to use the levy charged on banking profits to give a £250 million leg up for first time home buyers.
The new shared equity scheme, First Buy, will be available for first-time buyers who want to purchase a newly built property, but who cannot afford high deposits.
He said this would help 10,000 families get on to the housing ladder for the first time.
There was also an extra £100 million for the repair of winter potholes in roads.
Mr Osborne announced funding for 21 new Enterprise Zones.
He said the first ten will be in Birmingham and Solihull, Leeds, Liverpool, Greater Manchester, the Tees Valley, Tyneside, the Bristol area, the Black Country, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and Sheffield.
He confirmed the creation of a Green Investment Bank and pledged another £2 billion of funding, on top of the £1 billion already committed.
On education he announced a doubling of the number of planned new University Technical Colleges from 12 to 24.
