Wales reacts to Budget ups and downs
Welsh families, businesses and politicians have been counting the cost of today's Budget, as they look to balance their own books.
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Glossary: A to Z on the Budget
From Credit crunch to VAT, here is a quick glossary of some of the key terms you will hear in this year's Budget.
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Health of the British economy sector by sector
This is how the different sectors of the British economy have performed in the first three months of this year:
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing - Fell by 3.7 percent compared with 0.5 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
- Construction - Output decreased by 2.5 percent capping off a 5.9 percent decrease in the year to March 2013.
- Production - Grew by 0.2 percent following a decrease of 2.1 percent in the previous quarter. This growth was driven by mining and quarrying, and electricity supply.
- Services - 0.6 percent growth was the driving force behind the growth in overall GDP. This picture of positive growth was seen across the sector.
George Osborne: 'We are making progress'
The Treasury have tweeted reaction to the latest GDP figures:
Chancellor:“Today’s figures are an encouraging sign the economy is healing. Despite a tough economic backdrop, we are making progress. (1/4)
From @hmtreasury on Twitter:The deficit is down by a third, businesses have created over a million and a quarter new jobs, and interest rates are at record lows. (2/4)
From @hmtreasury on Twitter:We all know there are no easy answers to problems built up over many years, and I can’t promise the road ahead will always be smooth…(3/4)
From @hmtreasury on Twitter:Finally the Treasury tweeted: "…but by continuing to confront our problems head on, Britain is recovering and we are building an economy fit for the future."
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Triple-dip recession avoided as GDP grows 0.3%
Britain has avoided a triple-dip recession according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The figures showed that GDP grew by 0.3 percent in the first three months of this year.
A recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.
Wales reacts to Budget ups and downs
Welsh families, businesses and politicians have been counting the cost of today's Budget, as they look to balance their own books.
Read the full storyMore pain for public services predict council leaders
The Welsh Local Government Association says the Budget means there are tough times ahead for local communities, with reduced public services and welfare cuts.
The outlook is bleak given that public spending on day to day activity will continue to reduce over the coming years. Reductions to the Welsh Block were already set out in the Chancellor's autumn statement. Local public services in a number of areas including education and early intervention, roads and transport, planning, and housing are proven activities that influence economic growth in a positive way.
– WLGA Spokesperson Cllr Aaron ShottonMany people will face further reductions in living standards in the coming years. Changes to the welfare system will mean that some of the most vulnerable people in our communities are going to be left high and dry at a time when local public services will be squeezed as never before. This Budget is a missed opportunity but along with colleagues from across Wales, councils will step up to the plate and support growth and services in our local areas.
Welsh Finance Minister: 'We're constrained and disappointed'
Jane Hutt, the Welsh Government's Finance Minister, said "we're very constrained and disappointed by this Budget."
"There's no new real money for capital spending - there's cuts to our revenue budgets", she said.
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Budget wrong overall and wrong for Wales says Shadow Minister
The Shadow Welsh Secretary, Owen Smith, has attacked the Chancellor both for his overall economic strategy and for the specific consequences for Wales of today's Budget.
The Chancellor could have introduced a package of measures to stimulate our economy: cuts to VAT and National Insurance, for example, and increased spending on house building and other infrastructural projects that would increase economic activity and boost tax receipts. And today’s Budget, in which the Chancellor said he was going to ‘level with’ Britain, acknowledges as much by adopting a version of Labour’s plan on National Insurance and by increasing the spending on infrastructure too.
But look at the fine print and what do you see: none of these things come in this year and most, like the elusive extra £3 billion on infrastructure, only due to appear in 2015 – when the Tories may well be out on their ear. And the same Osborne hallmarks of ‘jam tomorrow’ and sleight of hand are apparent in the treatment of the budget for of National Assembly.
– Shadow Welsh Secretary Owen Smith MPDavid Jones announced that Wales would get an extra £161 million to spend on infrastructure – but we all remember that this is just putting back some of the £500 million cut in capital spending that was made in 2010 budget and even in the terms of this Budget it’s not quite as simple as the Welsh Secretary would have us believe, because a further £59m is cut out of the Welsh Government’s revenue funding, forcing hard decisions about cuts to services on which we all rely.
Budget paints dark economic picture for Wales - Plaid
Plaid Cymru Finance Spokesman Jonathan Edwards says the economic figures contained within the budget suggest a bleak future for Wales.
Budget as good as Wales could have hoped for - Minister
Wales Office minister Baroness Randerson tells Political Editor Adrian Masters that the budget was 'as good as we could possibly have hoped for' for Wales both in terms of the amount of money the Welsh Government gets to spend and in terms of other measures for families.
Budget gains won't make up losses - Shadow Welsh Secretary
Labour's Shadow Welsh Secretary Owen Smith says the Chancellor's budget gives to Wales with one hand and takes away with the other.
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