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Key Budget measures include
Maintaining a stable economy
High quality public services

Productivity and enterprise in a flexible economy
Employment opportunity for all
Building a fairer society
Protecting the environment

Household income
Where taxpayers' money is spent
Further information
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The Government's economic objective is to build a strong economy and a fair society, with opportunity and security for all.

Budget 2004 sets out how the Government is working to achieve this goal, building on a platform of economic stability and sustained growth to ensure that Britain can continue to succeed in a competitive global economy. Key announcements in Budget 2004 include:

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• an updated economic forecast, which shows the economy continues to grow steadily and that the public finances remain sound;


• plans for public service efficiency savings of 2.5 per cent a year up to 2007-08;


• £8.5 billion extra investment in education in the UK over the next three years;


• proposals to boost productivity and growth in the economy, through a New Deal for skills, and a ten-year framework for investing in the UK's science and innovation base;


• a £100 pension payment to households with someone aged over 70, to help with council tax bills, and confirmation of plans which will radically simplify the taxation of pensions;


• a package of measures to extend the support and help provided to people on incapacity benefit and to lone parents who want to return to employment, and the introduction of a new National Minimum Wage for 16 and 17 year olds;


• proposals for further reforms to planning and development to improve the supply of housing in response to the Barker Review;


• further action to promote fairness in the tax system, tackle tax fraud and avoidance, and protect revenues; and


• an increase, in line with inflation, of duty rates for sulphur-free fuels from 1 September 2004, and a freeze in vehicle excise duty.

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