Hunt unveils budget

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has shared the contents of his budget.

The budget includes the extension to the energy price cap that had been unveiled earlier along with £200 million to bring energy charges for prepayment meters into line with prices for customers paying by direct debit.

£63 million will be made available for leisure centres to help with swimming pool heating costs and energy efficiency.

As anticipated, free childcare has been expanded, with 30 hours of free childcare available for working parents in England with one and two-year-olds, in a bid to encourage people to work more.

There will also be 12 new Investment Zones, across the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, the North East, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, East Midlands, Teesside and Liverpool.

The Chancellor also announced £200 million in local regeneration projects across England and £161 million for mayoral combined authorities and Greater London, with £400 million available for new "levelling up partnerships".

£8.8 billion over the next five-year funding period has been set aside for the second round of the city region sustainable transport settlements. There will be £200 million for pot holes.

Finally, there will be 320 million funding for the Scottish government, £180 million for the Welsh government and £130 million for the Northern Ireland executive.

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