Jack Grey
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

In his Budget speech, Chancellor John Healey announced millions of pounds worth of investment in "high-growth industries" in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

However, the devolved governments have complained that the Budget does not go far enough:

Wales

Finance Minister Elin Jones has described John Haley's Budget as a "real-terms cut dressed up as a windfall".

In a statement, Jones says the Budget "hasn't shifted the dial" for Wales, adding that "on rail, fiscal flexibilities and public services, Wales has been ignored again".

"Once you account for inflation, this is still a real-terms cut to our funding, not new money that improves our position," she adds.

Scotland

The Budget "completely fails to meet the moment," First Minister John Swinney says.

He says "yet again, Scotland has been treated as an afterthought," but pledged to match the £100 energy bill support that was announced for some in England.

Northern Ireland

Stormont's Finance Minister John O'Dowd says the Budget will be of "cold comfort to workers and families facing cost of living pressures".

He says the financial package currently being offered by Westminster leaves a "significant gap" and additional investment was urgently needed in areas such as critical infrastructure and social housing.

"The chancellor’s Budget has done little to close the gap on the pressures we face," O'Dowd says.

How radical are the chancellor’s energy reforms?published at 18:58 GMT

18:58 GMT

By Mark Poynting

As well as measures to help households this winter, the chancellor said he would begin “radical reform” to bring energy bills down in future and the government would “further break the grip of international gas prices on bills”.

Currently, wholesale electricity prices are often set by the cost of gas even if renewables might be generating more power for the grid. So when gas prices spike, bills do too.

Healey said the government would look to switch more of the contracts held by some renewable energy projects onto fixed-price deals, rather than being paid a variable price often linked to gas.

But many analysts believe the policy, first planned under former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in April, will only have a modest impact on bills.

The chancellor also said he wouldn’t add any new environmental or social levies onto bills until a “cost control framework” was in place.

But last month more than 100 organisations, external - including energy firms, food producers and consumer advocacy groups - signed a joint letter calling for the government to go further and move all levies currently on bills to general taxation instead, which they said would make electricity cheaper.

Image source, PA Media

Highlights from John Healey's first Budget speech include 20 million households receiving a "household energy payment" and changes to business rates, but here's a reminder of some of the other announcements.

Gambling rates increase

Healey said his decision to take 70,000 businesses out of paying business rates will be funded by raising taxes on gambling.

This will be funded through the Machine Games Duty rising from 20% to 25% on higher-risk gambling machines, with the government saying lower-stake machines in pubs and seaside arcades will have their existing rate maintained.

National Wealth Fund investment

Public financial institutions are also set to benefit, with £20.4bn being announced for the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and British Business Bank.

This is expected to create or support more than 140,000 jobs between the two institutions.

The figure includes a £2bn investment in the Energy Wealth Fund, within the NWF, which will be used to support the country's transition to renewable and low-carbon energy infrastructure.

Neets response by end of the year

Healey said he refused to write off young people not in employment, education and training (Neets) during his Budget speech.

He said the government is looking forward to the final report of Alan Milburn's review into Neets, adding it will respond by the end of the year.

Mitch Labiak
Business reporter

The chancellor would have hoped a £100 payment directly into millions of people’s bank accounts funded by a tax hike on banks would be a big crowd pleaser.

However, critics have been quick to highlight the flaws they see in the plan.

In short, they say the money is not enough to tackle the energy bill rises on the horizon, which some forecast could be as much as £400, and won't solve the underlying issues.

Learning disability charity Mencap said the payment will "barely scratch the surface of today’s energy costs for many people with a learning disability and falls far short of the support they need".

Meanwhile, Scott Gardner, investment strategist at JP Morgan Personal Investing, pointed out the payment comes alongside official projections of inflation peaking at 3.8% next year “suggesting cost-of-living pressures are here to stay”.

And Maike Currie, vice president of personal Finance at PensionBee, said the real test is whether households see “lasting reductions in their bills rather than another temporary reprieve”.

"Subsidising energy bills isn't the same as making energy cheaper," she added.

Tara Mewawalla

Image source, Getty Images

The chancellor announced that tax on income from property rental will increase by a further 2% from April next year.

It was already due to go up to 22% from 1 April next year and will now go up to 24%.

The OBR - the Budget watchdog - says measures over the past 10 years have reduced landlord returns, and together with these measures, “collectively risk leading to a steady rise in rents”.

Chris Norris from the National Residential Landlords' Association describe the levy as "mystifying" and tells the BBC landlords do not have the margins to absorb these additional costs.

The government "keep restating their commitment to dealing with the cost of living", he says and this is going to increase it because landlords are going to pass on the costs as "they don’t have any choice".

Clara Collingwood, the director of the Renters' Rights Coalition, says it is "right that landlords' income from assets should be taxed higher than what renters earn from working for a living", and believes the rise gives homeowners more leverage to compete against investors when buying homes.

However, she says the "cost of renting crisis dwarfs any benefits people might feel" from today's changes, insisting that a cap on rent is needed to reduce poverty and prevent homelessness.

Simon Browning
Business reporter

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John Healey said during the budget that VAT for taxis would be introduced whilst protecting smaller firms.

Further details published by government lay out that "larger operators with annual fare turnover above a certain threshold liable for 20% VAT on the full value of their fares from 2 January 2028".

A consultation by the government will decide what that threshold is, and its current lead option is £50million annual fare turnover. This will target larger taxi and private hire firms.

Uber has warned essential taxi journeys may become less affordable across the UK following the changes.

An Uber spokesperson tells the BBC "any changes must be fair to all passengers and drivers. While we await the full details of the Government’s proposals, we are concerned they could create a two-tier tax system and make essential journeys less affordable for riders who need them most".

Industry figures argue the new proposals could mean the UK public face paying a higher price if they choose a larger operator for a taxi ride.

But the licensed taxi industry welcomes the government’s changes.

Steve McNamara from the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association has told the BBC "this is not just good news for me but for all the taxi industry. This is putting right things that haven’t been right for so long".

McNamara says fares for short journeys across London are now much closer between ride-hailing apps, local private hire firms and black cabs since VAT was applied to taxi fares in the capital. He said licensed operators that had struggled following Uber's arrival were now thriving again as a result.

Hours after John Healey announced a £100 energy payment for people in England in council tax bands A to D, it appears people are still trying to find out what council band they reside in.

The government website tool used for checking this currently reads a message: "The service is currently experiencing high demand.

"It remains available, but you may experience slower response times than usual. Thank you for your patience."

The service was also struggling shortly after the announcement was made, our cost of living correspondent Kevin Peachey said earlier.

Image source, GOV.UK

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

So far, the mood ranges from positive to... well, acceptance.

Some would have liked a bolder approach to taxing the banks - not just a temporary doubling of the bank levy - but are understanding of the chancellor's position.

"Now is not the time to spook the markets," said an MP on the party's centre left.

A leadership loyalist expressed his relief that at this stage market reaction was calm.

Rather than an over-arching vision, there was "a whole range of nuggets" said another but added that this might be the right approach - for now.

Small measures here and there "weren't nothing - they will mean something to people".

Fiscal devolution - such as giving mayors access to tax and business rate revenue - is seen as a genuine radical measure but some feel that dry phrase needs to communicated in a different way - by tying it more explicitly to projects it could fund.

One MP though added an important caveat - "it is only as radical as the mayors are willing to be"

The left-wing group Momentum said the budget measures were "welcome" but the government needed to be more willing to "tax extreme wealth".

Jenny Kumah
Rural Affairs correspondent

Ahead of today’s budget, the National Farmers’ Union called for a reversal in inheritance tax for agricultural estates. Farming assets worth more than £2.5m face 20% inheritance tax.

The £2.5m allowance can be transferred between spouses and civil partners, meaning in some cases £5m of value is protected.

Richard Payne is an arable farmer in Taunton, Somerset and says inheritance tax is a big reason why he has sold his 700-acre farm and is due to move out next summer.

Payne, 63, says his heirs faced a £2m tax bill. This, coupled with the rising costs of fuel and fertiliser and a succession of record poor harvests, led to his decision to sell up.

"I can't see farming getting any better," he says, adding "with the level of investment that we had in the farm, the risk was just too high".

"If I went under and I had no money left, I wouldn't get a job at my age.”

He says the Budget - which did not reverse the policy - had left him with "an empty feeling" because nothing major had changed and there wasn’t much that was "positive for business".

Image source, Richard Payne

Malcolm Prior
Rural affairs producer

For many countryside organisations, today's Budget was a missed opportunity for the government to show it was listening to - and acting on - the concerns of rural communities.

Campaign groups the Rural Services Network and Action with Communities in Rural England said they were “very disappointed” with the support offered rural households reliant on heating oil.

Despite the tariffs on kerosene being temporarily suspended, families would still be facing rising prices and hundreds of pounds in additional costs to refill their tanks, the organisations warned.

"Future tariff and market reforms will not help households pay those bills today. Rural communities need immediate, practical support to keep their homes warm this winter," they said in a joint statement.

Meanwhile, Gavin Lane, who is president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents around 26,000 rural landowners and businesses in England and Wales, said the “challenges rural areas face have been overlooked” by the Budget.

"At a time when nine out of ten CLA members are cancelling investment in their business, it is hard to see what in this budget will change their mind," he said.

That was a view shared by political campaign group the Countryside Alliance, which said that rises in employment costs meant it "remained to be seen" whether rural business owners would see "any real benefit" from the increase to the small business rates relief threshold.

Political opponents could say chancellor dodged the trickier decisionspublished at 18:04 GMT

18:04 GMT

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Sometimes what’s not in a Budget can be as significant as what is.

The chancellor mentioned both defence and welfare spending, but detail about the government’s longer-term plans for both is yet to come.

John Healey did say the government planned to fully fund the defence investment plan that was drawn up when Keir Starmer was Prime Minister, but he said decisions on how to reach much bigger defence spending targets would be made at the spending review which isn’t until next year.

On welfare, he said the government would come up with plans to reform welfare only after it had the results of ongoing reviews into youth unemployment and health and disability benefits.

The government claims it’s laying the ground for big structural changes to come. The danger is it allows political opponents to say the chancellor’s dodged some of the big - and tricky - decisions he faces.

Felicity Hannah says people should think about their "own personal budget", seeing where they can cut back and being aware of where their money goes each month.

She says things could "stay tough" despite the measures put in place by the government.

This year's announcement was a "small steps Budget", says Nick Eardley.

He says the government still needs to make big decisions on subjects such as defence despite there being plenty of MPs who will be happy with the "friendly measures on the cost of living".

The Your Questions Answered programme has now ended, but we will continue to bring you the latest reaction and insights to the Budget on this page.

Financial journalist Felicity Hannah says the measure will kick in from April next year when the state pension goes up, and if your only income is the state pension or less than you won't pay tax on that.

But after that the allowance is going to taper off. She says for every £3 you earn above the state pension amount, you will lose £1 of the extra allowance.

Essentially that means if you earn more than £13,319 in the tax year then you won't get any extra allowance and at that point you will just pay tax like any other taxpayer, she says.

Nick Eardley, political correspondent, says it's a fair question, and many MPs are asking similar questions about what wasn't in the Budget.

He says he thinks what Burnham would say in response is that they are working on a "long term plan" to reform the service England.

He adds that most watching the Budget today would not have taken away anything "significant" on social care, saying that the review is on going and we're "going to have to wait a bit longer".

BBC political correspondent Nick Eardly says Andy Burnham has often spoken rhetorically about encouraging more people into apprenticeship schemes.

In terms of getting younger people into jobs, he says that while the minimum wage was raised today, it did not go up as much as it has in previous years which could mean the government hopes pressure on businesses "isn't as significant".

Economic correspondent Andy Verity says the scheme will not be "means tested" beyond the council tax bands.

He adds that the Institute for Fiscal Studies says the payment "isn't very well targeted", but the government wants to get the money "out the door quick".

Verity says the payment is separate to the winter fuel payment, with financial journalist Felicity Hannah saying: "This should be an automatic payment going into your account in January."

She adds it should be paid into the account that pays the council tax bill and is not something you need to apply for - warning scammers may try and ask for people's bank details.

We will shortly be answering questions on today's Budget in a special programme of Your Questions Answered with our panel of experts.

Stay with us for all the latest updates and you can also watch live on the stream at the top of this page.

Consumer expert Martin Lewis says he had a list of "seven or eight" things that he took to Chancellor John Healey when they met two months ago, "five of which have been done".

But the number one thing on his list, addressing the upcoming freeze to the plan 2 student loan repayment threshold, wasn't mentioned - which Lewis calls an "abomination".

Last year, then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves froze the plan 2 repayment threshold at £29,385 between 2027 and 2030, instead of allowing it to rise with inflation.

The change will result in students starting to repay their loans sooner than they would otherwise have done, and their rising salaries leading to greater repayments.

"For me that is a breach of natural justice," Lewis tells the BBC.

Lewis says while the £100 "household energy payment" is meant to create breathing space, it will actually just mitigate the impact of the expected 27% energy price cap rise in January. For a typical household, bills will rise by around £100-120, he tells the BBC.

He welcomes the scrapping of standing charges on gas bills, calling them a "moral hazard", as well as the removal of a fine for those who withdraw their Lifetime Isa for homes above £450,000.

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner has said there is a "lack of any meaningful action" on domestic abuse, which she says is one of the leading causes of homelessness, in this year's Budget.

Nicole Jacobs says there is limited funding in the statement to address misogyny, which she says shows "just how low down on the priority list halving violence against women and girls is for this government".

In a post on x, she welcomes announcements by the chancellor to tackle rough sleeping and ease cost-of-living pressures, but says she hears weekly about domestic abuse services being reduced due to "chronic underfunding" and rising demand due to the early release scheme.

Jacobs urges the government to show it remains committed to its pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, saying: “We cannot meaningfully tackle homelessness and support victims if specialist services cannot keep the lights on."

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Today's Budget "missed the mark" on matching the government's ambition for growth in every postcode, the national chair of the Federation of Small Business has said.

Tina McKenzie says small businesses have gotten nothing to ease "sky-high energy bills" or make hiring people more affordable. She also says the business rates relief "excludes too many", but welcomes the increase in trading allowance from £1,000 to £3,000.

The British Retail Consortium's chief executive Helen Dickinson says John Healey has "failed to provide the breathing space" he promised, saying the government has failed to address the "rising tide of costs" holding high streets back.

Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, praises the Budget as "sending the right signals to business" but "lacking big calls" to shift the economic dial.