Time for Spring Budget 2023: Jeremy Hunt announces £4bn boost in childcare in his speech today

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce a £4bn expansion of free childcare for one and two year olds in England.

The plan includes an additional 30 hours per week for parents of one- and two-year-olds, The guard reported.

It will also increase funding for the existing free childcare scheme for three-year-olds by £288m by 2024-25.

Drinkers are set on a sobering budget that is expected to include a double tax crackdown on alcohol that could add around 45p to the cost of a bottle of wine.

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is poised to increase alcohol taxes in line with inflation – currently at a staggering 10.1 percent.

And despite the biggest cost-of-living pressures in a generation, a separate tax on higher-proof drinks is set to come into effect.

Hundreds of thousands of workers from multiple unions will go on strike on Wednesday in what threatens to be the largest single work day since the current spate of unrest began last year.

These are the sectors affected by the Budget Day strikes.

Jeremy Hunt will unveil his first spring budget since becoming chancellor today, aiming to spur growth amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Hunt will present his budget to the House of Commons at 12.30pm, following the Prime Minister’s questions.

The chancellor is expected to unveil 12 zones clustered around universities – radically rolling back a program introduced by former Prime Minister Liz Truss that pitted hundreds of councilors against each other.

The energy price guarantee will be extended at its current level for a further three months from April to June, capping average annual household bills at £2,500, the Treasury has confirmed.

The three-month extension of the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) at its current level of £2,500 will save a typical household around £160, the Government has said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We know people are concerned their bills will increase in April. To give people a little reassurance, we are keeping the energy price guarantee at its current level until the summer when gas prices are expected to fall.

“Keeping energy costs low is part of our plan to help hard-working families with the cost of living and cut inflation in half this year.”

The EPG was expected to rise to £3,000 in April but falling energy prices mean the current level may be extended to ‘close the gap’ until costs fall below the cap.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who included the measure in his budget presented today, said: “High energy bills are one of the top concerns for families, which is why we are keeping the Energy Price Guarantee at its current level.

“With energy bills set to come down from July, this temporary change will close the gap and ease pressure on families while helping bring down inflation.”

With the budget now only a few hours away, this report is over Patrick Daly explains what you can expect to hear:

Up to £8.6m in funding for Edinburgh’s festivals is reported to be announced in Wednesday’s budget LucindaCameron.

Some of the funding could be used to create a permanent headquarters for the Fringe festival, which draws thousands of performers to the Scottish capital each summer.

Funding for caregivers for respite should be doubled, a coalition representing older people has urged Jeremy Hunt as they dubbed him the “Chancellor of Health and Care”.

The Care and Support Alliance (CSA) said it “begged” Mr Hunt to use his budget today to announce more investment in social care, including doubling state funding for caregivers’ breaks.

Age UK, a member of the CSA, said it surveyed more than 1,600 carers aged 60 and over and found 35 per cent felt overwhelmed by the care and support they are providing, while 61 per cent worried sometimes or always whether they would be able to provide further care or support.

In an editorial The Independent has said that Jeremy Hunt and his colleagues “must end the misuse of apprenticeship levy funds as disclosed by The Independent‘s investigation.

It said: “While they are hardly high on the Chancellor’s list of priorities, the sums at stake in these scams are significant – at least £1billion. This taxpayer money has been used over the past five years to fund 55,000 already well-paid executives courses that are equivalent to a master’s degree but absurdly labeled as “training.”

“Indeed, around £100m has been spent funding MBAs, many for executives, earning more than £100,000 a year – despite an attempt by the government to stamp this out two years ago. The increase in “apprenticeships” for leadership candidates appears to have come at the expense of young people, with 100,000 fewer under-25s entering training than before the levy was introduced six years ago.

“It is outrageous that scarce resources have been diverted in this way: would those involved have directed their ingenuity to growing their businesses and hiring real apprentices, rather than exploring loopholes in a system that was never intended to subsidize them. Skills and Apprenticeships Secretary Robert Halfon has vowed to crack down on the MBA scandal and it can’t come soon enough.”

Jeremy Hunt will unveil a “growth budget” to cater for healthcare, students and pensioners while trying to silence critics in his own party.

The Chancellor will say his actions go beyond helping Britain out of recession.

Instead, he promises “long-term, sustainable, healthy growth that will fund our NHS and schools, find good jobs for young people, provide a safety net for the elderly – while making our country one of the most prosperous in the world”.