IT’S the speech that could alter the lives of thousands of people throughout Hampshire.

Today Chancellor George Osborne will stand in the House of Commons to deliver his Autumn Statement.

Businesses, motorists and pensioners will all be watching him keenly as he lays out the Government’s pledges on funding and taxation.

Roads, mental health, pensions and business rates are all expected to form part of the last statement before next year’s general election.

Details on many of the major investments have already been announced well in advance of the lunchtime announcement.

A £15billion investment in the country’s roads, reported in the Daily Echo on Monday, will see major work done to improve the south’s road infrastructure.

Improvements to notoriously busy routes such as the A31 at Ringwood, the M27 and the M3 will take place, while a new filter lane at the Redbridge roundabout in Southampton will help to ease congestion into the city.

The plans to widen the A31 to three lanes near the site where 16-year-old moped driver Jade Clark was killed last year has been welcomed as “probably the best Christmas present ever” by New Forest councillor and improvement campaigner Michael Thierry.

Yesterday it was also announced that a £15m fund to find new cures for dementia will form part of the statement. And it is believed that there will be a pledge to spend an extra £1.5billion a year on the NHS.

With the general election just six months away, many are predicting that tax will form a large part of Mr Osborne’s speech.

John Taylor, tax partner at Baker Tilly’s Southampton office, says that there could be an increase in the inheritance tax nil rate band, from £325,000 to £1m, while all UK homeowners could be affected by a potential major review of the Main Residence Relief – the tax relief you receive when you sell your house.

He is also expected to announce new measures to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion, and there could be an announcement on the taxation of non-UK residents.

Businesses in Hampshire are urging Mr Osborne to continue stimulating economic growth, with Colin Williams, joint managing director at Southampton-based Williams Shipping Holdings Ltd, saying that he wants the Chancellor to “kick-start businesses both large and small into investing and giving them the confidence to do so”.

Stewart Dunn, chief executive at Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said he wanted Mr Osborne to freeze business rates until 2017 and pledge a major overhaul of them by 2022.

Devolution of spending powers is also on the cards, but it is likely to be Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield that are granted extra powers in areas such as transport, house building and skills.