The Chancellor of The Exchequer George Osborne has just published his Autumn Statement. Here is a summary of the key points:

Economy

• 3% growth forecast in 2014, up from 2.7% predicted in March
• 2.4% growth forecast in 2015, followed by 2.2%, 2.4%, 2.3% and 2.3% in the following four years
• 500,000 new jobs created this year. 85% of new jobs full-time
• Unemployment set to fall to 5.4% in 2015
• Inflation predicted to be 1.5% in 2014, falling to 1.2% in 2015

Stamp Duty

• Reform of residential property stamp duty so that rates apply only to that part of the property price that falls within each band
• 0% paid for the first £125,000 then 2% on the portion up to £250,000
• 5% up to £925,000, then 10% up to £1.5m; 12% on anything above that, saving £4,500 on average priced home

Public borrowing/deficit

• Deficit ‘cut in half’ since 2010
• Borrowing set to fall from £97.5bn in 2013-14 to £91.3bn in 2014-15.
• Deficit projected to fall to £75.9bn in 2015-6, £40.9bn in 2016-7, £14.5bn in 2017-8 before reaching a £4bn surplus in 2018-9.
• By 2019-20 Britain will have a surplus of £23bn
• Debt as a share of GDP to rise from 80.4% this year to 81.1% next year before falling in every year. reaching 72.8% in 2019-20
• Tax receipts up to 2017-18 to be £23bn lower than forecast

Energy/Fuel

• Fuel duty to be frozen
• Sovereign wealth fund for north of England to keep benefits of shale gas exploration
• Immediate reduction in oil industry supplementary charge from 32% to 30%

Savings/Pensions

• Spouses will be able to inherit their partners’ ISAs tax free upon their death
• ISA threshold increases from £15,000 to £15,240 next April
• Tax free annuities for dependents of people who die under 75
• Commitment to complete public service pension reforms, saving £1.3bn a year

Personal/Business Taxation

• Air Passenger Duty to be scrapped for under-12s from 1 May next year and for under-16s the following year
• Personal tax allowance to increase to £10,600 next April
• Inheritance tax to be cut for families of aid workers who die in course of their work
• 55% death tax passed on to loved ones abolished
• Libor fines to support Gurkhas and other service veterans and their families
• Higher rate income tax threshold to rise to £42,385 next year
• VAT paid by hospices and search and rescue organisations to be refunded
• Introduce 25% tax on profits generated by multi-nationals that are shifted out of the UK, set to raise £1bn over five years
• Bank profits which can be offset by losses for tax purposes to be limited to 50%
• New £90,000 charge for non-doms resident in the UK for 17 of the past 20 years
• Inflation-linked increase in business rates capped at 2%

Health/Welfare

• £2bn extra every year until 2020 for the NHS
• GP services to get £1.2bn in extra funds from bank foreign exchange manipulation fines
• £10,000 loans for postgraduate students studying for masters degrees
• Employment Allowance worth £2,000 extended to carers

Business & Science

• Theatre tax break extended to orchestras and new tax credit for children’s TV producers
• Research and development tax credit increased for small and medium-sized (SMEs) firms
• Support extended to small businesses with £500m of bank lending plus £400m government-backed venture capital funds which invest in SMEs
• £45m package of support for exporters
• Expand tax relief on business investment in flood defences
• Britain awarded the lead role in the international effort to explore Mars
• National Insurance on young apprentices abolished

Housing/Infrasctruture

• £2bn for flood defence schemes in England
• Tendering for Northern Rail and Trans-Pennine Express franchises to replace pacer carriages with modern trains
• A new £78m theatre and arts venue is to be built on the former site of Granada’s TV studios in Manchester
• £15bn for 84 roads projects in England by 2021