positive on the bbc weather map! there are issues coming into force from a personal finance there are issues coming into force from a personalfinance perspective, we can go to ruth alexander. we have had some questions from the audience. robert asks what the government is doing to encourage people to save? something the chancellor mentioned and something he has previously announced was the national savings bond where you will be able to save up to £3000 per year and get 2.2% on it. interest rates are not high so it does not sound that great, though. valerie wants to know, what about increases in petrol and beer and spirits? fuel duty will remain frozen for the seventh year ina row remain frozen for the seventh year in a row and alcohol duty will rise by inflation from monday, so about 2p on by inflation from monday, so about 2pona by inflation from monday, so about 2p on a pint of beer and about 30p on a litre of whiskey. we would love to hear more of your question so get in touch, text 61124, e—mail us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk or tweet us. thank you very much to ruth and jo

coburn and we will be back in hull ina coburn and we will be back in hull in a short while. the time is one minute past three and this is the point at which we say goodbye to viewers on the bbc news channel but i will see you at 5pm, hopefully. thank you forjoining us and we this is bbc news at 3 o'clock. i'm jane hill live at westminster where the chancellor philip hammond has delivered his first budget. mr hammond announced an extra £2 billion for under—pressure social care services in england as he painted an up—beat picture of the economy. we embark on this next chapter of oui’ we embark on this next chapter of our history confident in our strengths and clear in our determination to build a stronger, fairer, better britain. he hit self—employed workers with higher national insurance contributions but pledged more help for firms struggling with a rise in business rates.

but labour leaderjeremy corbyn said the budget ignored the state of the economy, public services and ordinary people. i'm simon mccoy. complacent about the reality of daily life for millions of people in this country. i'm simon mccoy. the other headlines this hour: the mother of missing raf airman corrie mckeague says it's "only a matter of time" before his body is found as police search a landfill outside cambridge. two people are dead and one is left critically injured after a multiple stabbing at a block of flats in wolverhampton. good afternoon and welcome to a

rather noisy westminster. here on budget day there is a protest going onjust right budget day there is a protest going on just right outside the houses of parliament. a very loud protest to do with pensions. all in connection with international women's day, but if you can hear me above the noise we can reflect on this first budget unveiled by chancellor philip hammond. he has announced extra money for social care in england over the next few years to try to help councils and ease the pressure on the nhs. he has increased national insurance contributions from for millions of self—employed people, but he promised to help firms in england and wales who are being hit by the rise in business rates. the chancellor said the budget provided a strong, stable platform for brexit. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, accused philip hammond of delivering a budget showing utter complacency

about the state of the economy. let's look at the chancellor's measures in more detail. an extra £2 billion is to be spent on social care in england over the next three years to help councils and ease pressure on the nhs. a green paper on long—term financing of social care will be published later this year. £100 million has been allocated to place more gps in accident and emergency departments for next winter. but philip hammond began his budget by announcing the independent 0ffice for budget responsibility had upgraded its forecast for economic growth this year from 1.4% to 2%, but it has downgraded its predictions for the following two years. he said that annual borrowing would be £51.7 billion in 2016-2017 - £16.4 billion lower than was forecast in the autumn statement.

it will rise to £58.3 billion in 2017—2018 before starting to fall. and debt as a proportion of gdp is due to peak at 88.8% in 2017—2018 before starting to fall. 0n tax, mr hammond announced that self—employed workers will face higher tax bills as part of plans to increase their national insurance contributions by 1% to 10% in april 2018. in response to concern over the impact of business rates, he announced a package worth more than £435 million to help businesses in england and wales struggling with a major rise in those rates. he pledged to ease the burden from higher business rates including a £1,000 discount on the business rates bill of 90% of local pubs.

0n education, the chancellor confirmed funding for 110 new free schools including a new generation of grammar schools. he said free school transport would be extended to all children on free school meals who attend a selective school. he confirmed £216 million would be allocated to repairing existing schools. there will not be any increases in alcohol or tobacco duties on top of those previously announced. but a new minimum excise duty will be introduced on cigarettes, based on a packed price of £7.35. finally, the excise duty rates for hauliers and the hgv road user levy are frozen for another year. that's a fairly comprehensive look at what the chancellor unveiled. let's get this analysis

from our political correspondent eleanor garnier. saving for a rainy day, chancellor? a hint of a smile. any spare cash in there, chancellor? though really there is not that much to cheer about. 0ur cautious chancellor has already warned there is no money for a spending spree. grinning and bearing it, chancellor? after an early—morning cabinet he was off the commons. this, his first and last spring budget. from now on they will be an autumn affair. the right honourable philip hammond. we were promised an upbeat speech and that is how the chancellor started. i report today on an economy that has continued to confound the commentators with robust growth, a labour market delivering record employment and a deficit down by over two—thirds. as we start our negotiations to exit the european union, this budget takes forward our plan to prepare britain for a brighterfuture. he told mps the uk's debt and

borrowing was still far too high. so the only responsible course of action, mr deputy speaker, is to continue with our plan. undeterred by any short—term fluctuations and undistracted. .. undistracted. .. undistracted by the reckless policies advanced by the opposition. because, mr deputy speaker, we on this side will not saddle our children with ever increasing debt. but after repeated claims the social ca re system but after repeated claims the social care system st in crisis, the chancellor promised to help ease the pressure. i am committing additional grantfunding of pressure. i am committing additional grant funding of £2 billion to social care in england over the next three years. and he unveiled extra help for small firms worried about changes to business rates, plus a special £1,000 discount for the majority of pubs. but the most

controversial move will mean some self—employed workers will face higher tax bills with plans to increase national insurance contributions, a move that contradicts the conservatives' ma nifesto. contradicts the conservatives' manifesto. the chancellor has already announced there will be cash for new free schools including grammar schools. there is an extra £500 million to shake up vocational and technical training for 16 to 19—year—olds in england and the science budget is expected to get a boost with funding for robotics, electric cars and artificial intelligence, but labour is demanding the government does more to deal with the rising cost of living. when she took office the prime minister said, "if you're one of those families, if you're just managingi of those families, if you're just managing i want to address you directly. " managing i want to address you directly." this budget does not address them. it failed them. this budget has done nothing to tackle low pay. nothing to solve the state of emergency that persists for so many people, demanding and needing

health and social care now. and nothing to make a fair economy that truly works for everyone. it's built on unfairness and it's built on failure to tackle unfairness in our society. the snp were quick to criticise the hike in national insurance. the party of aspiration, taxing those who are self—employed, putting in disincentives to starting businesses, to employing people, to stepping out on one's own. i think that's a decision which will come back to haunt this chancellor. the economic forecast might be looking up economic forecast might be looking upa bit, economic forecast might be looking up a bit, but austerity has not gone away. the budget is still tight. so what the chancellor gives away, he needs to balance with tax rises and spending cuts too. when all the budget detail has been unpicked and final assessments have been made, the question for the chancellor will be— the question for the chancellor will be — has he done enough to deal with

the political difficulties without spending too much money as brexit becons. mr hammond might have chucked out his predecessor's timetable for dealing with the deficit, but both he and the prime minister still believe balancing the books is the only way to ensure a sta ble books is the only way to ensure a stable economy that's growing. let's go to our chief political correspondent, vicki young, who isjust behind me the houses of parliament. we were expecting a steady as she goes approach. what are you taking away from philip hammond's one hour there, on the floor of the commons, in terms of the top lines for you? talk us through what stands out for you? well, i think it was stead crisis as she goes. he has abolished the spring budget so the main event will be in the autumn, but i've come from the treasury briefing. what happens is once the chancellor sits

down, the treasury team speak to journalists, they go through the red book with all the numbers in it and they answer questions on what's just been announced. i have to say the massive talking point is this rise in national insurance contributions. now, part of the reason for that is because the conservatives went into the last general election with a ma nifesto the last general election with a manifesto which promised not to put up manifesto which promised not to put up national insurance so they were being asked repeatedly how can you say you've honoured that manifesto commitment when you've just said that you're raising this class four national insurance for the self—employed? national insurance for the self—employed ? now, national insurance for the self—employed? now, their defence in this, they say the appropriate place for the details in this is in the law, in the legislation, there is a thing called the tax lock bill which was brought in after the 2015 general election and it did indeed say that it was just class one national insurance that wouldn't be raised, but many were pointing out and saying that voters could feel a little bit duped, if you were self—employed, and you looked at the 2015 general election manifesto and

it said, "we won't be putting up your national insurance. " it said, "we won't be putting up your national insurance." today, that's what they've donement the other problem for them. who does it hit? they insist it is processive and it doesn't hit the low paid. they point out a lot of qcs and gps are self—employed and they says is not fair that those who are employed end up paying a lot more tax than those who are self—employed. but already there is some disaqet amongst conservative mps, john red wood and anna soubry saying they're uncertain about this. so, very, very quickly some very difficult questions being asked of the treasury. yes. so that and that really is going to stand out as, i know, you highlighted the technical difference there about the different classes of ni, but that's going to lea p classes of ni, but that's going to leap out nonetheless as a headline, isn't it as a break in a manifesto commitment and one wonders whether the numbers have been crunched and whether it is going to bring in

enough money to mitigate against those bad headlines? yes, i can say from what my colleagues in the press we re from what my colleagues in the press were saying that clearly that will be the headline, the treasury were getting a tough time on this and the numbers, the other thing they're trying to do, there was a cut in national insurance for the self—employed announced previously, due to come in at the same time as this rise and what really the treasury are doing are putting the figure together and saying it is 1.6 million who will be affected. but that's a lot of people and it is people tory mps would consider to be entrepreneurs, but at this time of brexit, of course, which was barely mentioned in the chancellor's statement there, britain has to be open for business. it has to be encouraging people to set—up their own businesses, that's a thriving pa rt own businesses, that's a thriving part of our economy and to hit these people, it may not be the right thing to do. so i do think that that will take the headlines and of course, the treasury and the

chancellor would like to talk about the extra money for social care, £3 billion they're pointing out if you ta ke billion they're pointing out if you take as well the extra money for this triage pilot in the nhs to help gps work out of hospitals. they say that's £3 billion over three years, a significant intervention is how they're describing it in the treasury. all right, thank you very much. vicki young there in the lobby. let's talk to the general secretary of the tuc. of the trades union congress, frances 0'grady. what do you take away? the headline of this budget will be that the chancellor promised us an economy that would work for working people, but as 0br analysis has shown working people are going to be no better off at the end of this parliament than they were when he made his autumn statement. we've had

nothing in terms of filling that funding gap, that's facing the nhs. and indeed are schools and nothing new on the investment that we need to make sure that britain is brexit ready, investment in infrastructure, in good, well paid jobs and the rights that workers need to make sure that they get treated fairly. investment to make us brexit ready, wouldn't the chancellor say, well, this is why we're introducing technical expertise and emphasis on vocational qualifications and introducing t—levels and making britain appropriate for the modern age. he's saying we've got to compete with china and other countries like that and this is the way to do that? well, a commitment to technical education is very welcome, but we are seeing fe colleges and our schools really desperate forfunding colleges and our schools really desperate for funding and of course, the workforce in our public services. today, on international women's day, the majority of the

women still not getting a real pay rise. do you welcome nonetheless the investment in social care? a pressing problem of our time that affects so many people up and down the country? we do, but we clearly need more and nobody thinks there is a magic money tree, but if we're going to get the economy growing and if we're going to pay for our public services, we need real investment in infrastructure and what we got today was a reheated version of the autumn statement. what we really need is real action to tackle transport, telly comes, green energy, there is a lot of important work that needs to be done. that could cre at the skills and well paid jobs that britain desperately needs and get us on ourfeet britain desperately needs and get us on our feet ready to face an uncertain future. it is almost a pause. it is almost a holding budget partly because philip hammond has said the next budget is going to move to the autumn so there will be

something later on this year anyway, plus article 50 hasn't been triggered yet. we don't know what's coming don't the road with that. it is an act of caution, isn't it? we had a chancellor who was stuffing a lot of money down the back of the sofa for a rainy day in respect of their worries about what brexit will do to the economy. but actually if we're going to be ready for brexit then we need to investment now and get people into those good, highly skilled jobs that will sustain us in the future. frances o'grady, thank you very much. thank you general secretary. they're you very much. thank you general secretary. they‘ re making you very much. thank you general secretary. they're making their presence felt. frances 0'grady general secretary of the tuc. that protest is continuing on international women's day. the 0br, is holding a news conference. it is about its forecasts for growth, the state of the public finances. we can hear some of what they're saying there. the chancellor has set aside £1.2

billion a year to meet the cost of this to the nhs and other parts of the public sector. the decision is also expected to cost insurers about £2 billion a year, which will push up £2 billion a year, which will push up premiums. this increases revenue from insurance premium tax, but raises debt interest spending by pushing up pri inflation. the overall effect of these three elements is to increase borrowing by £1.8 billion this year, and around £1.8 billion this year, and around £1 billion each year thereafter. smaller in its effect is the government's decision to increase probate fees between £300 and £20,000 depending on the size of the estate. this will raise £300 million. probate fees are treated as negative spending and this increase has been factored into the ministry ofjustice's spending settlement. 0nce ofjustice's spending settlement. once the change is implemented the treasury expects the office for national statistics to classify probate fees as a tax because the fee is not in proportion to the cost

of the service. that will simply convert some negative spending into positive tax receipts. the only net impact on the public finances come via a small loss in inheritance tax revenue as we assume that people will take steps to avoid stepping up a band in the fee structure. taking the ons a band in the fee structure. taking the 0ns account in change, the underlying forecast changes and the impact of policy measures, public sector net borrowing is expected to rise from £51.7 billion this year to £58.3 billion in 2017/18, rather than falling from £68.2 billion to £59 billion as we thought in november. this is the first increase in the deficit from one year to the next since 2012/13 when the royal mail's pension fund deficit moved into the public sector, but the level of the deficit in 2017/18 is still lower than we forecast it would be in november. this table

shows the main factors behind this turn around from a £9.2 billion fall in the deficit next year to a £65 billion rise and we have seen most of them already. the biggest factors chewed the changing in the timing of eu contributions, the impact of greater dividend fore stalling and the budget give away and the cost of higher inflation next year. one off setting factor is we expect nominal gdp growth to be stronger than in november which on its own would improve the deficit by £3 billion between this year and next. so what does the outlook for the public finances imply for the government's performance against the various fiscal goals that it set itself? the government remains on course to achieve its fiscal mandate for structural borrowing. to achieve its supplementary target for net debt and to stay within its cap on welfare spending. but it is not yet on course, we think, to achieve its so—called fiscal objective to

balance public finances at the earliest possible date in the next parliament. let's start with the fiscal mandate. this requires the government to bring the structural budget deficit below 2% of gdp by 2020/21. the is the one you would see if activity in the economy remain at its potential level. . that's robert chotes. we will keep an eye across that and plenty about that on the bbc website. welcome. can we start by talking about growth? it is something that is talked about a lot, positive positive that's its on the way up, but it is on the way down.

fundamentally the 0br hasn't changed its assessment of how much we can produce over the longer term. we're getting the growth earlier. stronger growth this year. weaker growth over the next few years and weaker than was expected before the referendum which means in 2020 we end up in about the same place as what the 0br thought back in november. and when people say it's very positive that it's getting back up to 2% albeit with the caveats that you've mentioned there, is it worth reminding people that's still less than before the crash? we're not back to those days yet? if you look at growth, in notjust the size of the economy, but the size of the economy per person, over the period until 2008 through to 2020, it's going to be a very terrible period compared to the growth rates we got to enjoy before that. so let's hope the forecasts turn out to be wrong and too pessimistic, but we will be getting ripper each year, but not by very much. certainly not as much we

would have hoped pre—crisis. very much. certainly not as much we would have hoped pre-crisis. this is before article 50 is triggered. by definition, we don't know what impact that will have, either way? well, forecasts are always going to turn out to be incorrect. there is more uncertainty, more risk than what we normally have so we shouldn't be surprised if things turn out very, very different to what anyone thinks is going to happen. let's hope that's because things turn out better, but it could be that things turn out worse which gives the chancellor some reasons to not want to spend the extra money that he's managing to bank this year. where are we with debt? wanting to bring down the debt. philip hammond keen to point out we spend more on debt interest than police and defence combined? our public sector debt has risen as a result of the crisis. the last ten yea rs has result of the crisis. the last ten years has seen a huge increase in that. it continues to go up. the annual amount of borrow that the government does which is adding to that add, we're going to add less to the debt than what we thought in november. so the chancellor's is

benefiting from that, it is only a temporary thing. the borrowing forecasts return to what the 0br was thinking back in november. the longer term story is still that the 0br are saying £30 billion more a yearin 0br are saying £30 billion more a year in government borrowing than what it thought a year ago. when some critics say we should be borrow to go invest. we need to invest if we're going to be brexit ready, that is purely a policy call, in terms of any is purely a policy call, in terms of a ny levels is purely a policy call, in terms of any levels of borrowing that the government wants to sustain? what the chancellor is doing going forward is trying to get the deficit down. he is trying to increase his spending on investment. investment on spending is going up, but there isa on spending is going up, but there is a challenge in terms of his day—to—day spending. he has social security cuts that affect families, and day—to—day spending on many public services is being cut over the next few years in order to get the next few years in order to get the deficit down. it is about the day—to—day spending where it will be a challenge delivering his plans.

the capital spending does imply an increase. carl emerson, thank you very much. let's talk about matters of education. philip hammond has confirmed that £216 million will be allocated to repairing existing schools and he confirmed funding for 110 new free schools including a new generation of grammar schools. today ican generation of grammar schools. today i can announce funding for a further 110 new free schools on top of the current commitment to 500. this will include new specialist maths schools to build on the clear success of exetermatics school and king's college, london which the prime minister visited earlier this week. we commit to this programme because we understand that choice is the key to excellence in education. the chancellor said that t—levels

would teach more technical subjects. we will increase by over 50% the number of hours training for 16—19—year—old technical students, including a high—quality, three—month work placement for every student, so when they qualify they are genuinely work ready. once this programme is fully rolled out, we will be investing an additional £500 million a year in our 16—19—year—olds and to encourage and support the best of them to go on to advanced technical study, we will offer maintenance loans for those undertaking higher level technical qualifications at the new institute of technology and national colleges, just as we do for those attending university, putting the next generation first to safeguard their future and to secure our economy.

with me here is ed dorrell, head of content at the times education supplement. vocation, stem subjects, t—levels, is that all positive as far as you're concerned? i think the vocational sector and the further education sector is largely pleased about the announcement around t—levels. it gives the sector a bit of clarity that has perhaps been missing and it enkrges the wider public to think in terms of parity of esteem. between academic subjects and vocational routes, hence t—levels and a—levels. and vocational routes, hence t-levels and a-levels. vocational subjects rightly or wrongly have never been regarded in the same way as academic subjects and that's something he says he's trying to break? absolutely. he certainly is. there is more encouragement from the

government to try and break that. i think largely because of brexit. you think largely because of brexit. you think about there has been a conveyor—belt of skilled workers from eastern europe who are prepared to come to this country and work perhaps cheaper than our own vocationally trained people and that is likely to dry up in two or three yea rs' is likely to dry up in two or three years' time with brexit. so for the sake of the economy, they really have to get this right for the first time in many generations. that's interesting the you would think they have to suddenly train these people rather quickly as well? definitely. 0ne estimate says there will be a 3.1 million skills gap by 2050 if we don't do something about it now. now, obviously there will be a lag time, we're not suddenly going to be able to plug that gap, but that's one of the reasons the government made it clear that i will gration post brexit will have to be more fluid than perhaps they let on originally. and grammar schools, it

was talked about yesterday because of the preannouncements, but it's going to rumble on as a topic of heated debate, isn't it? the education sector almost to a man and woman is pretty much militantly opposed and this is something that the education sector really, really doesn't want to see. so you will see significant opposition from within the schools and school leaders and headteachers. because? they argue if you're going to talk about grammar schools in terms of motion mobility all the evidence that exists, almost all the evidence that exists, almost all the evidence that exists, almost all the evidence that exists suggests that grammar schools are bad for social mobility. there are examples. everyone knows someone who was lifted out of poverty and went on to suggest ses because of grammar schools, but the research suggests that grammar schools are not great for social mobility. theresa may wa nts to for social mobility. theresa may wants to push them, is it partly saying, wants to push them, is it partly "my wants to push them, is it partly saying, "my government is different from the last one. it is different

from the last one. it is different from david cameron. want to put my mark on something"? she wants to say, you can go to grammar school, your kids can go to university. but it is definitely the end of a policy from a long time which said that selection at 11 is bad, so she is putting herfoot down, the kind of education policy we have not seen for a generation. thank you so much for your insight. at the rock from the times educational supplement. that is his ta ke educational supplement. that is his take on the announcements made on education. the levels will be introduced and we were talking about the educational qualifications. i am talking to two young people. i am glad it has calmed down. thank you.

there is a lot to explain. as a starter, you are both at a college, a school in london. a technical college. you deliberately chose to go there because you are far more scientifically minded than i am, much to my regret. explain what you do there and what you get out of it. we go to utc, it is university technical college, and we are industry led. it is a school where we learn our traditional gcses and a—levels, combined with technical qualifications, to give us skills to prepare us for going into industry. i will get you to explain what you are holding. you specifically opted to go for this sort of education because you presumably felt your particular passions and interests

we re particular passions and interests were not being addressed in a regular school, is that fair? in a regular school, is that fair? in a regular school, is that fair? in a regular school, science, technology and engineering are not being addressed as much as they should. by coming to this college, london design and engineering, we are expanding our broadening our work and it is phenomenal, i love it. we can see you in some footage here. explain what you are holding. in january i was lucky enough to take these robots skiing. we made the skis ourselves and programmed them to ski. we spent a lot of time working on the 3—d printing which, within the first few months of being at college, we managed to make our own printers as well, so it is all done by us. completely designed by you. and you are 15 and 16. this is

fascinating. this is embarrassing. you designed this and the point is what? somebody like me can go on it? it is based on what the actual ski will look like. with this you need your foot to move. will look like. with this you need yourfoot to move. at will look like. with this you need your foot to move. at the bottom there are rivets, so as you go up rather than down you can catch the snow, so it locks you in and you can walk up. that is what i need, i a lwa ys walk up. that is what i need, i always fall over. explain the robot. he is one in 11 robots that we have. we have got two other robots who are the big brothers and big sisters. 0ne the big brothers and big sisters. one of our qualifications is creative computing. part of the curriculum is in robotics, programming robots like these to

perform tasks to make things easier for people. these will be in our workplaces in the foreseeable future. when you hear there is a drive for more qualifications, while colleges like the one you are at, you are the guys who will have jobs in the future, not me. would that be your feeling? absolutely, there is a gap in industry with science and technology and it needs to be closed and that is what our college is doing. we are going into the design and engineering sector which is a massive sector and we have employers like thames water and we are partnered with the university of east london and that is our university sponsor. all the colleges are linked to university and we have loads of links with different employers and that helps us get the skills to be in this industry. what do you think you will do when you graduate? i hope to work in a civil

engineering apprenticeship and i am looking at the institute of civil engineers who we also went on the ski trip with antlers of other companies. fantastic, i could talk to you both for so much longer. it has been my favourite interview today. thank you for explaining to a science dunderhead exactly what you do. thank you so much for your time, thank you for coming to westminster to talk to us. there is much more reaction to today's budget on the website and a breakdown of everything philip hammond announced including the breakdown of those qualifications we were just talking about. there is more on the website. more from here a bit later. for now, simon, back to you in the studio. this time yesterday you were worried about the weather. speak to you shortly. you are watching bbc news.

let's bring you items of news elsewhere. the mother of the missing raf airman corrie mckeague has said she believes it's only a matter of time before his body is found in a landfill site outside cambridge. police are continuing their search of the site today. mr mckeague disappeared after a night out in bury st edmunds in suffolk last september. his mobile phone was tracked following the course of a bin lorry making its rounds soon afterwards. it could take them up it could take to ten weeks. asa as a result of our officers checking and rechecking and diligently going back to the company, we are here now. it is important that we are here now, we have mounted the operation and we have taken the advice we need to run a thorough investigation and a thorough search of this area and i am hopeful i'm confident we will find some answers for the family. this is not something we enter into lightly. you

can see by the scale of the operation behind me there has been an extensive amount of planning that goes into an operation of this kind and searching of a landfill site is something the police do not do all that often. 0ur correspondent ben ando is at the search site. this bin lorry has been in and out of the investigation before. the interview you saw took about 300 metres that way, right in the heart of the land site in cambridge. they have got a cell, an area of about 100 square metres, down to a depth of eight metres in parts which they need to sift through to check where that bin lorry may have deposited the rubbish it picked up when it was doing its rounds on september the 24th, the night he went missing. the bin lorry initially was identified quite quickly by the police, but they were told by the operators there was very little inside only 11

kilos. maybe his mobile telephone might have been in there, and that might have been in there, and that might have been in there, and that might have explained the tracking. but a month ago they had new information saying data had been mis—red and there was an error, and now they know there was up to 100 kilos of weight was inside the bin lorry and that changed everything. now they are back here with a major search, costing up to half £1 million. if it lasts the full ten weeks it could do to sift through that large area that they have to search. the other story is today's budget and let's go back to jane. westminster is slightly more quiet thanit westminster is slightly more quiet than it has been in the last few minutes. there is a demonstration about pensions. if the noise

resumes, you would know why. we can hear a little bit about his announcement on capital. because we believe local areas understand local productivity barrier is better than local government, we make further progress with our plans to bolster the regions. in may mayor will be collected in six of our great cities. local areas will take control of their own economic destiny and we will support them to do so. i can inform the house i have reached a deal with the mayor of london on further devolution and i will follow the launch of the northern power has strategy by publishing tomorrow our midlands energy strategy. let's find out exactly what that deal is because there were not many specifics. let's talk to the mayor of london, sadiq

khan, whojoins talk to the mayor of london, sadiq khan, who joins me talk to the mayor of london, sadiq khan, whojoins me from our students in central london. what have you agreed with philip hammond?” in central london. what have you agreed with philip hammond? i am pleased the government and i have to decide party political differences and have worked together to get a decent dealfor london. and have worked together to get a decent deal for london. it means we have more control over how public services are run and over how taxes are spent in particular. we can bring forward plans to invest in infrastructure on, for example, transport lines. we can keep more of the business rates raised in london. we have more say over how the criminal justice system we have more say over how the criminaljustice system operates and how the health service is run. i am looking forward to working closely with the london councils to make sure we deliver better services and spend taxes more wisely in london. that is a lot of areas, public service, transport, criminal justice. to explain to people who do not live in the capital, is that

about giving individual london councils, london boroughs, more money in those areas? what are the specifics? the specifics in relation to transport for example are when it comes to improving infrastructure projects in london we have a growing population. it will grow from 6 million up to 10 million by 2030 and we have to look at innovative ways to raise money to build new transport links. in business rates, local councils will be able to use the money raised and spend locally rather than civil servants in whitehall deciding how it is spent. in relation to the nhs we hope to signa in relation to the nhs we hope to sign a deal with the government so we have more say over how social services and the nhs are integrated to provide better services for local people. the simple point is if you compare the population of london it is greater than the population of

scotla nd is greater than the population of scotland and wales combined and we have far less control over our services than scotland and wales. will that growing population you are talking about, will they have the opportunity to have their say? talking about, will they have the opportunity to have their sawm talking about, will they have the opportunity to have their say? it is important it is notjust the mayor getting these powers, it is the 33 councils across london. 0ver getting these powers, it is the 33 councils across london. over the last few months we have worked closely together with the government to come up with this deal. if decisions are taken closer to the people they affect, the decisions are better. compare london to new york and tokyo and we have far less control over our destiny than they do. it is a step in the right direction. we have got these key services for the capital that need more funding. small businesses in london will save with business rate hikes, so there are things we asked for that we did not get. the government deserves credit for giving us some of the things we asked for. a quick chat about social

care. it is something that concerns people up and down the country, but london is very densely populated there are issues there. is it enough? no, london councils worked their socks off looking after older londoners who have paid their dues and london councils are struggling to pay the social care bill. the nhs often treats people really well, but has difficulty releasing patients back home because of lack of social care. we have to make sure we invest in social care. this is a sticking plaster on a gaping wound and the government needs to do much more. sadiq khan, the mayor of london, talking about devolution powers for london across many areas, including transport, criminaljustice and public services. what does it mean for the pound in all of our pockets? things closer to home. there's talk

toa things closer to home. there's talk to a personal finance expert who has a bit more time to go through the details. from what you have looked at so far, what stands out for you from this cautious budget? there has not been a huge amount announced. there are all sorts of things he said he is giving, but he is not really. the thing that stands out to me is the tax taken away from freelancers. he will increase the national insurance contributions that freelancers make. they are really a tax by another name, let's be honest. people are saying there was a pledge in the manifesto not to raise tax or national insurance and it is an increase. yes, he is going absolutely against the tory ma nifesto. absolutely against the tory manifesto. what i find odd is he has carried it in terms of fairness,

being fair, making the tax for self—employed people equal to the tax that employed people pay. but what he does not say is self—employed people do not have sick pay, maternity pay, holiday pay, extra money in their pensions. they have to do all of that themselves. the reason for this i consider is that the number of self—employed people in this country has rocketed. it is now 16% of the workforce. he has looked at it and thought, 16%, that is a lot of tax, i will have some of that, thank you very much. self-employed people are often entrepreneurs and they are are, disproportionately women. he has made a big thing about giving things to women, a £500 million suffragette budget if you like for next year and looking into maternity benefit. but most women would say, thank you, i would rather have the

money. sometimes women have to be self employed because they want to be flexible and part—time in order to look after children at the same time. any of the apparent giveaways that he has done are like the returned chits. they are aimed at women, but they are nothing because they are essentially taking money away from their pockets. any other areas around personal finance that people should be looking out for? anything that people should be aware of that has not been preannounce? good point. what interested me was what was not said, what was not given away. they are having various reductions in the benefits that people in work and out of work are going to have. these are from four

yea rs, going to have. these are from four years, but there are no giveaways as far as years, but there are no giveaways as farasi years, but there are no giveaways as faras i can years, but there are no giveaways as far as i can tell. he is not reducing the price of petrol. we could do with him reducing the duty on petrol. the duty has been frozen, but the price of a litre is going up each month it seems and that is not helping working families. working families and those out of work are really struggling because of the increase in prices and wages are unlikely to go up. we could have done with some help there and there has been nothing. good to have your analysis. thank you for talking us through the world of personal finance and what it might mean for you, following on from the budget today, philip hammond's first budget. let's discuss what some of his announcements could mean for scotland. i am joined his announcements could mean for scotland. iam joined by his announcements could mean for scotland. i am joined by stewart posey from the snp. it is an

increasingly chilly westminster. good to see you. an extra 350 million. still means between now and the end of this parliament we are £1 billion down in real terms. 2.5 billion down in real terms. 2.5 billion down in real terms. 2.5 billion down over the period of the government since 2010. it is nice to get some money back, but this was not largesse from this government. but everyone is suffering, everyone in the uk is affected by this age of austerity no matter what you think of it, and the chancellor has to say you have to share this out. indeed, eve ryo ne you have to share this out. indeed, everyone is suffering and that is the point i made in my response. the first five years of austerity led to their borrowing targets not being met and we are in no better position today than we were promised last spring. austerity has failed. they have cut too far, too deeply, irrespective of the consequences for

the economy. you are right and eve ryo ne the economy. you are right and everyone is suffering. growth is up more than was anticipated. everyone is suffering. growth is up more than was anticipatedm everyone is suffering. growth is up more than was anticipated. it is up bya more than was anticipated. it is up by a fraction of a percentage point or two, but then it is marked down for a couple of years. but the forecast for the rest of this parliament and into the next one growth does not even reach 2% in a single year. this is even the precrisis trend level of growth, this is woeful. that is before the impact of brexit begins to bite. he said from the outset there was no room for complacency and he recognised families were squeezed. he said they recognise that and that is why he feels the government has to be fiscally responsible. of course every government should be fiscally responsible and it is right to recognise people are squeezed, but then to ignore the elephant in the room, brexit, with the impact that can have on gdp growth, on

wages and living standards, that is unforgivable. that is before his specific policies, the big tax grab on the self—employed, entrepreneurs. that was a ridiculous thing for a tory government to do. thank you very much forjoining us here. let's ta ke very much forjoining us here. let's take a look at some of those figures and a bit more depth. how healthy is the uk economy? 0ur and a bit more depth. how healthy is the uk economy? our business editor has been looking at the bigger picture. the chancellor has spoken but we're not talking about what he said, we want to talk about the 0br, that's the office for budget responsibility. it's independent of the treasury and produces forecasts for economic growth, tax and spending. their predictions form the basis of every budget since the 0br was established in 2010, and basically stops the chancellor from marking his own homework. in the autumn statement in november the 0br predicted that in 2017 the uk economy would grow by 1.4%.

today, following better than expected figures in the back half of 2016, that growth prediction has been increased to 2%. however, it will fall back. to 1.6% before it starts to climb again reaching 2% by 2021/22, that means over the five years, cummulative growth is slightly weaker than predicted back in november. what impact does that have on the deficit, the amount of money the government overspends by every year? this time last year the 0br predicted that the deficit for 2016/17 would be £55.5 billion, then in november with concerns over the vote to leave the eu, falling sterling and a forecast

of rising inflation it was revised up to £68billion. well today it has fallen substantially by £16.4 billion to £51.7 billion. it will rise again in 2017/18 to 58.3 before falling steadily until it's just shy of 17 billion in 2021/22. not hugely different to november's predictions. and what about the debt? that's the amount of money the government owes in total. it currently stands at almost £1.7 trillion, the equivalent of 83.7% of gdp, or our total growth for the year, like having debt worth 83% of your annual salary. today's figures show debt will rise to 86.6% of gdp this year but will eventually fall to 79.8%

in 2021—22 — in cash terms that's just over 1.9 trillion pounds, a lot of money, but significantly it's 48 billion less than predicted in november. now you've processed all of that have a listen to what markets expert sue nofke thinks of the budget. the growth numbers are what stick out. the improvement in the debt as a result of better growth. but the fa ct a result of better growth. but the fact is philip hammond has chosen not to spend that windfall. that is very important because although he did not mention the word brexit at all in his budget speech, clearly the triggering of article 50 later this month leads to quite a lot of

uncertainty as the sort of growth impact we are likely to see on the uk economy. the chancellor was very proud to tell us that last year the british economy grew faster than the united states, japan and france, but it's the years ahead that really matter — the uk is leaving the eu, sterling is still weak and inflation is forecast to hit 2.4% this year — not good news for those feeling the squeeze. labour have called this budget complacent but the chancellor might prefer to call it careful — he's found some spare cash down the back of this year's sofa, but he's not running out to spend it. he's putting it in the piggy bank in case of a rainy brexit day.

after about social care, the introduction of te levels, and on the rising national insurance for self employed people, going up from 296 up self employed people, going up from 2% up to 10%. a lot of people say that breaks the manifesto promise which said there would be no increases in national insurance, vat or income tax. we will top much more about that after four o'clock, and we will talk about health and social ca re we will talk about health and social care as well. much more from westminster on a busy, noisy afternoon. now we will catch up with the weather prospects. it has been a cloudy day in westminster and other parts of the country as well. this was one of our weather watcher‘s pictures from surrey. further north again in the scottish highlands there was some sunshine. there have also been heavy showers. a real variety in the

weather across the country. this has been driving the showers in across northern scotland. to the south the cloud is producing some patchy rain and that will continue to be the case through the rest of the afternoon. a cool and fresh appeal to the weather further north, further south it has been a mild afternoon. this weather front is going to be tough to move out of the way, so it will hang around all night long in southern areas. it brings in further outbreaks of rain in the south—west and the channel islands. more showers in scotland with some strong winds here. in between a lot of dry weather. for most between a lot of dry weather. for m ost pla ces between a lot of dry weather. for most places it will be too cloudy or too breezy to give us a frost. tomorrow our weather front is still hanging around towards the south—west. 0utbreaks

hanging around towards the south—west. 0utbrea ks of hanging around towards the south—west. outbreaks of rain in cornwall and the channel islands. 0utbreaks cornwall and the channel islands. outbreaks of rain will be largely confined to the north east. some pretty mild air in place and we could get temperatures up to 15 or 16. this weather front is still with us on friday. as it drifts into this area of high pressure, it will have the life squeezed out of it. patchy bits of rain and drizzle working their way eastwards. even in the east there will be a bit of rain later in the day and still pretty mild particularly in the south. that changes over the weekend. bands of rain interspersed with dry, sunny spells. by sunday we bring in westerly winds which will introduce slightly cooler air. if you are making plans, expect some spells of sunshine and gradually things will turn a little bit cooler. you can

keep upto date with the forecast where are online. more from nick miller later on in the afternoon. this is bbc news at apm. i'm jane hill at westminster where the chancellor philip hammond has delivered his first budget. mr hammond announced an extra £2 billion for under—pressure social care services in england as he painted an up—beat picture of the economy. we embark on this next chapter of our history confident in our strengths and clear in our determination to build a stronger, fairer, better britain. he pledged more help forfirms struggling with a hike in business rates. employed and self—employed alike use our public services in the same way,

but they are not... but labour leaderjeremy corbyn said the budget ignored the state of the economy, public services and ordinary people.