FROM fuel and beer duty freezes to funding for a new children’s accident and emergency unit in Southampton, a host of new measures were announced in this year’s Budget.

Chancellor George Osborne described it as a “Budget for the next generation”, and one of his biggest announcements was about schools.

He said all primary and secondary schools will be or be in the process of becoming academies independent of councils by 2020.

Another announcement was the formation of a new Local Majors Fund which areas can bid for funding for major projects from - such as the Chickenhall Link Road to ease congestion in and around Eastleigh.

Today’s announcements included:

  • £3.5bn of Government cuts will be made by 2019/20.
  • Corporation tax paid by businesses will fall to 17 per cent by 2020.
  • Plans for every primary and secondary school to become an academy.
  • Sugar tax on companies making soft drinks, to be introduced in two years’ time, that will be assess by amount of sugar in drinks.
  • A further crackdown on £12bn of tax evasion, including moves to end the use of ''personal service companies'' by public sector employees to minimise their tax liabilities.
  • Freeze in fuel duty.
  • Beer, cider and whisky duty frozen, tobacco duty to rise by three per cent.
  • An extra £1m to go towards defibrillators.
  • Reform of business rates that will see 6,000 small firms pay no rates and 250,000 have their rates cut from April 2017.
  • No announcement on devolution deal for the Solent/Hampshire.
  • Increase in flood defence spending by £700m raised by increasing insurance premium tax.
  • Major changes to commercial stamp duty which will see nine per cent of businesses pay more and 90 per cent less.
  • The tax-free personal allowance is being raised to £11,500 with the Chancellor declaring 31 million people will be paying less tax and 1.3 million of the lowest paid taken out of tax altogether.

Warning of a “dangerous cocktail of risks” from global economic instability, he said: ''In this Budget we choose to put stability first. Britain can choose, as others are, short-term fixes and more stimulus. Or we can lead the world with long-term solutions to long- term problems.

''In this Budget we choose the long term. We choose to put the next generation first. Sound public finances to deliver security, lower taxes on business and enterprise to create jobs, reform to improve schools, investment to build homes and infrastructure - because we know that's the only way to deliver real opportunity and social mobility.

''And we know that the best way we can help working people is to help them to save and let them keep more of the money they earn.''

Mr Osborne also used the speech to make a warning about leaving the EU, saying: “there appears to be a greater consensus that a vote to leave would result in a period of potentially disruptive uncertainty”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded to Mr Osborne's Budget by telling MPs it was ''the culmination of six years of his failures'' and had ''unfairness at its core''.

''Growth is revised down last year, this year and every year that's forecast - business investment is revised down, government investment revised down", he added.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage criticised the Chancellor, saying: "Osborne has doubled the size of our national debt".

Green party MP Caroline Lucas tweeted: ''Overall, Chancellor's budget speech reeks of hypocrisy. He talks about future generations whilst trashing their chances £Budget2016''

Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services Union said: ''No attempt at distraction with announcements on education and a sugar tax can disguise the reality that the Tories are damaging the economy for the vast majority of people while handing tax cuts to the wealthy and to businesses.

''Further cuts to civil service departments would be devastating, as tens of thousands of jobs are already under threat and hundreds of offices are earmarked for closure, hitting vital services from tax collection to our justice system.''