Chancellor George Osborne will be setting out his budget for the next financial year today. We will be examining its impact on people in the West Country, and feeding live updates once the announcement begins at 12:15pm today (Wednesday 20 March).
One of the measures the Chancellor announced today was a cut in national insurance for employers to help boost jobs. But one part of Devon is still reeling from the loss of 300 jobs at Axminster Carpets last month.
One industry set to benefit from the Chancellor's announcements is the brewing trade. Plans to add another 3 pence tax to beer have now been scrapped. Instead the cost of a pint will be cut by a penny. The change will come into force from Sunday night.
Beer duty is to be cut by 1p per pint from Sunday night, and increases are to be stopped altogether. It is the only alcohol to be exempted from duty increases, and the Chancellor says the exemption will help protect pubs.
He acknowledges it is partly in response to pressure from the Conservative Bristol North West MP Charlotte Leslie.
Addressing the Commons, Chancellor George Osborne says granting planning permission for the Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset yesterday was a 'major step forward' towards a low carbon economy.
The Chancellor is now laying out his 2013 budget in the House of Commons. We will publish live updates, focussing on measures affecting the West Country specifically.
Chancellor George Osborne will set out his budget for the next financial year today. His speech begins at 12:15pm in the House of Commons.
We will be feeding live updates on this page, which will focus on how the budget affects the West Country specifically.
The national ITV News site will be feeding live updates on how the budget will affect people generally. Click here to look at them.