Budget 2003 (1): Key measures

New measures to build a Britain of 'economic strength and social justice' were set out in the Budget, delivered by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown. But early reaction to it by some political commentators described it as a 'modest' and 'low key' Budget. While the leader of the Conservative Party called it 'more tax, more spend, more waste'.

Against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and hostilities in Iraq, the Budget set out the long-term reforms that 'will leave Britain well placed to deal with the impact of global events, and benefit from the coming global upturn, to build a Britain of economic strength and social justice, a Britain that is enterprising, flexible and fair.

Key announcements in Budget 2003 include:

• a new Child Trust Fund providing children born from September 2002 with an initial endowment at birth of £250, rising to £500 for the poorest families, to strengthen the saving habit of future generations;
  
• an extra £100 on top of the £200 winter fuel payment, to households with a pensioner aged 80 or over, for the lifetime of this Parliament;
  
• an extension, to 52 weeks, of the period over which all pensioners in hospital receive their full state pension;
  
• a package of support for new and growing businesses, including proposals to improve access to finance, simplify tax and reduce regulatory burdens, and measures for the 2,000 Enterprise Areas;
  
• new measures to increase the supply of housing, promote flexibility in the housing market, and streamline and simplify the planning regime;
  
• further steps to improve skills in the workforce, with Enterprise Advisers in schools, details of additional Employer Training Pilots and reforms to facilitate migration as a source of skills in the economy;
  
• substantial reform of Housing Benefit to improve gains to work, facilitate labour mobility, and deliver a more reliable service to claimants;
  
• more intensive support to help lone parents and partners of out-of-work benefit claimants find work, with pilots of a new worksearch premium for lone parents and an enhanced New Deal for partners;
  
• a new compliance and enforcement package to protect direct tax revenues and designed to save £1.6 billion over the next three years;
  
• an increase in tobacco, beer and wine duties in line with inflation and a freeze in the duty on spirits, sparkling wine and cider; and
  
• a deferred increase in the main road fuel duties in line with inflation from 1 October, new duty incentives for environmentally-friendly road fuels, and a new lower rate of vehicle excise duty for the cleanest cars.