the government has been coming under pressure to provide more money for social care budgets — with council leaders saying the system is on the brink of collapse. today the chancellor responded, announcing £2bn of extra funding for social care in england over the next three years. so today, mr deputy speaker, i am committing additional grant funding of £2 billion to social care in england over the next three years. mr deputy speaker, that's £2 billion over the next three years, with £1 billion available in 2017—18, which will allow local authorities to act 110w will allow local authorities to act now to commission new care packages, and it forms a bridge to do better ca re and it forms a bridge to do better care funding that becomes available towards the end of the parliament. of course, this is not only about money. while there are many excellent exa m ples of

money. while there are many excellent examples of best practice around the country, at the other end of the scale, just 2a local authorities are responsible for over half of all delayed discharges to social care, so alongside additional funding, the health and community sector tees will identify measures to support authorities that are struggling and ensure morejoined up working with the nhs. the previously announced reform to business rates has unnerved some companies, who feared they see their bills spike. today the chancellor offered some comfort — with a cap on the increase in business rates for certain companies. today, as i promised many of my right honourable friends i would, i will address those concerns with three measures which apply to the national business rate system for england. first, any business coming out of small business rate relief will benefit from an additional cap. no business losing small business rate relief will see their bill

increase next year by more than £50 a month, and the subsequent increases will be capped at either the transitional relief cap or £50 a month, whichever is higher. perhaps the most politically controversial element of today's budget was the reform to national insurance contributions. class 4 national insurance contributions will go up to 10% from 9%, and to 11% in april 2019. the conservative manifesto had said it wouldn't raises tax from national insurance but ministers say the budget does not breach any manifesto pledges. from april 2018, when the class to nic is abolished, the class for nic will increase to 10%. the combination of the abolition of class two and the class for increases i've announced today raises a net £145 million a year for

oui’ raises a net £145 million a year for our public services by 2021—22. mr deputy speaker, that is an average of around 60p per week are self—employed person in this country. joining me now from westminster is our chief political correspondent, vicki young. various people on the conservative side have said today it does not contravene what they said in the ma nifesto contravene what they said in the manifesto leading into the 2015 election, but there are some on the conservative benches who are angry about what happened today when it comes to the rise in national insurance. they have a problem with the politics. the conservative manifesto said clearly that there would be no new taxes, and they said in their poster that meant national insurance, vat and income tax. most people will see this as a clear breach. having said that, the chancellor has met backbenchers this evening and he is adamant that it is

not. the defence seems to be that when they brought the so—called tax lot law in, that only talked about one class of insurance. a lot of people who are self—employed may well think they have gone back on all of that. the other issue is the policy itself. here, the treasury in the briefing afterwards seemed to be on safer territory because the argument is about fairness. if you have people paying paye, why should they pay more than people who are self—employed? they pay more than people who are self—employed 7 they are they pay more than people who are self—employed? they are looking at paternity and maternity rights come about when it comes to things like pensions, there have been significant changes which mean that self—employed people are entitled to that too. there were questions raised at the meeting tonight by senior conservatives to philip hammond, but i didn't get the sense afterwards that there will be a huge rebellion on all of this, but they have, quite publicly about it, and i

think the treasury will have a tough selling job when it comes to tory backbenchers. is there a sense overall that the conservatives feel they did a pretty good job with the public finances and how they're going to move forward with brexit looming? i'm sure they feel this is a safe budget. conservative mps are happy with what philip hammond is doing, but it is worth saying that he barely mentioned brexit. i think the one thing afterwards, when we spoke to treasury about it, there are spokesman, the chancellor's press secretary, was asked about this so—called war chest, £25 billion philip hammond might have by the end of this parliament, and a spokesman very tellingly said that he would not call it a war chest but a tank of fuel for a long journey. we know that despite the fact that brexit was not mentioned much today, it is coming down the track. it is

uncertain, and some people still expect dumps when it comes to economic performance, so he is keeping that money in case of hard times. let's say that he is keeping it for a times. let's say that he is keeping itfora rainy times. let's say that he is keeping it for a rainy day, as george 0sborne might have said. there are many in the cabinet who thinks brexit opportunities and it will be a wonderful thing for the economy, but there are others who are concerned about what may happen. thanks for that. iamjoined by i am joined by ian stewart, chief economist at deloitte. this was the first budget since the vote to leave the eu. we had the autumn statement in november, but this was a sort of road map, the beginning of a road map, for the governing party to lay out to the british people as to what the next year will look like, despite the headwinds potentially coming from brexit. how well do you

think the chancellor has managed to reassure this country that it's going to be ok? what strikes me in the budget is that eight months on from the referendum, the chancellor is expecting growth this year to be around 2%, so he's expecting growth in the first full year of the brexit period to actually accelerate. 0ver the next couple of years, the expectation is that growth in the uk will be rather faster than expectation is that growth in the uk will be ratherfaster than in expectation is that growth in the uk will be rather faster than in the expectation is that growth in the uk will be ratherfaster than in the eu row area. people have got short memories, but 6—8 months ago, there was an expectation of a near colla pse was an expectation of a near collapse in grove, so from the chancellor's point of view, this is the budget that they might have hoped to deliver six or eight months ago. —— a collapse in growth. the numbers are better than expected, and because of what the chancellor did in the autumn statement in november, he has given himself a lot

of wiggle room, gas in the tank, i think he calls it, to deal with rough patches later in the parliament. so, this wasn't a flashy, elaborate budget, but on these two key areas of growth and borrowing, i think it is quite reassuring. but the resilience of the economy has been really down to consumers continuing to spend, and we know that throughout 2017, even with the upturn in the 0br's assessment for growth, there could be headwinds, including inflation, and the effects of whatever comes out of brussels after we trigger article 50 by the end of this month. forecasts are only forecasts. they can be wrong. we could be in a sticky situation. i hope you're not asking me to make a forecast about this! you are right. how wrong can

forecasters be about growth? we have just seen it. we know that the shop from brexit has not been of the scale that had been feared, but i think the chancellor is right that we haven't even seen article 50 triggered. this is a long process that will take at least five years to unscramble and create a post eu settlement, and what he has done by jettisoning the previous chancellor's budget is, he has given himself the leeway to continue with austerity. we are halfway through what will probably be a 14 year process of closing the deficit, so austerity goes on, but he has created this headroom to deal with a rough patch. you are right that it is so far, so good, and there is a slowdown pencilled in for next year over year after, not dramatic one, but i think he has established a

good game plan for what is clearly going to be a period of uncertainty in relation to these negotiations. ian, many thanks for coming in. the chancellor says that scotland will receive an extra £350 million asa will receive an extra £350 million as a result of the budget because of the so—called barnett formula. it follows plans to boost spending in england, but the scottish government says that despite the funding boost, there had been almost £3 billion worth of cuts to the scottish budget over the past ten years. our scotla nd correspondent, david porter, has more. the clock is ticking and the pace of events is speeding up too. today, it's all about the numbers, but like everything in politics at the moment, this is a budget that has to be seen through the prism of exit and what it could mean for scotland. saving for a rainy day, chancellor? for the chancellor, the first opportunity to pose with the

red budget box outside number 11 downing st. in the commons, a direct message to scotland and scots. are run as was today deliver additional funding of £350 million for the scottish government... cheering from his own side. from the nationalist benches opposite, a muted reaction. in edinburgh too, ministers were not impressed. set in the context of £2.9 million of reductions since the tories came into office, so it is a reduction in overall in terms of what we would have had, but of course i welcome barnett consequential is around that, but it isa drop consequential is around that, but it is a drop in the ocean to the resources we could have had. at westminster, to coincide with the budget and international women's day, a noisy protest by female pensioners who say they have been u nfa i rly pensioners who say they have been unfairly treated. likewise, opposition parties were less than a supplementary of the chancellor's handiwork. the chancellor didn't

mention brexit, the biggest economic impact this country will see in a generation. they does nothing to help the big issues of wages, living standards across scotland and the re st of standards across scotland and the rest of the uk, and i think he would have been further ahead by not having a budget at all today. we always knew this would be a different budget because the chancellor doesn't have spare cash, but it became apparent that not only does he like cash, he has no ideas or ambition. old though few overt references to brexit, it's clear the message the chancellor wants to get across. our united kingdom has a proud history. we have done remarkable things together, but we look forward, not backwards, confident that our greatest achievements are ahead of us. in the shadow of big ben, a piper plays, this time mainly for the benefit of the tourists. with brexit talks due

to start soon, not everything in the future might be as harmonious. david porter, reporting scotland, westminster. 100 days is coming up, but first, the weather. not particularly cold tonight, some frost in sheltered spots in eastern scotland. patchy light rain in the south west and south wales. lots of shoppers to come across scotland, and gale force winds may clip the top of northern ireland and northern england. tomorrow, there is precipitation in the north and the south. the showers in scotland will be confined to the far north and the northern isles in the afternoon. in the south—west, patchy, light showers in cornwall and the channel islands. elsewhere, pleasant sunshine, temperatures up to 16

celsius. we are getting into double figures widely. friday is still mild for most of us, but cloudier. there will be shown was around at the weekend, but sunshine in between. —— there will be showers around at the weekend. hello and welcome to 100 days. as the world prepares for brexit, the british government boasts of an economy that continues to grow. were the gloom mongers wrong? growth forecasts are up — borrowing is down — at least for now. as we start negotiations to exit the european union, this budget takes forward our plan prepare britain for a brighterfuture. uk growth is expected to slow slightly next year but so far the economy has defied the forecasts of most economists — including the imf. let's watch.

you don't think the imf did get it wrong in this case? we revised, as ijust said.