Main points: Darling statement

The main points from Chancellor Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report and Comprehensive Spending Review statement:

TAXES

• The inheritance tax threshold for married couples and those in civil partnerships will rise to £600,000 from today and £700,000 by 2010.
• The main rate of corporation tax will be cut by 2p in the pound to 28% by next year.

• Mr Darling promised to reform the capital gains tax system, ensuring those working in private equity pay a "fairer share". There will be a single rate of 18%.
• A number of "loopholes" for non-domiciled tax payers will be examined, Mr Darling said. Tory plans to charge a flat rate of £25,000 to such people would mean only 15,000 paying, he added. This would mean revenue of £650m a year, rather than £3.5bn that the Tories had estimated, Mr Darling said.

• Grants to local authorities for local services in England will increase to £26bn by 2010 to ensure local authorities can keep council tax rises substantially below 5%, Mr Darling said.

  HEALTH

• Over the next three years the NHS will increase its funding by an average of 4% above the rate of inflation.
• Investment in health in England to rise from £90bn this year to £110bn by 2010.

  Mr Darling said the single fund for health research would be expanded to £1.7bn by 2010.

  EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

• The education and skills budget will rise to £74bn by 2010.

  An additional £2bn will be invested in 2010 in health and education, Mr Darling said, including a £250m fund to ensure all children at school are ready to learn and benefit from personalised support.

• Investment on science and technology to rise to £6bn in three years' time.

  HOUSING

• The government will spend more than £4bn over the next three years to help people in poor-quality housing make renovations.
• Proposals are to be brought forward in the Budget to help lenders provide more fixed-rate mortgages for 10 years or even longer.

  THE ECONOMY

• Mr Darling said it was a time of "increased economic uncertainty" with "turbulence in America, Asia and Europe" .
• There would be "no risks with unaffordable promises that put the public finances at risk".
• UK economic growth is expected to be between 2% and 2.5% next year, the chancellor said. And for 2009/2010 the figure would be 2.5% to 3%, he added.
• Mr Darling said he expected to make a statement on Northern Rock later this week.

  PUBLIC FINANCES

• The government will keep net debt at a sustainable level during the next economic cycle, Mr Darling said.
• Net borrowing was forecast to fall from £38bn this year to £23bn in 2012.
• Government departments will save a further £30bn by 2010, on top of £20bn of savings already achieved, the chancellor said.

  DEFENCE/TERROR/CRIME

• Mr Darling allocated an extra £400m for military operations abroad this year.
• He announced a new single budget for the police, security services and other agencies to deal with terrorism, to rise by £1bn a year to £3.5bn in three years' time.
• Extra spending on the Home Office and Ministry of Justice is to rise to £20bn by 2010, Mr Darling said.

  ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND OVERSEAS AID

• Mr Darling said aviation duty would be paid on flights, rather than individual passengers.

• An extra £200m will be given for free pensioner bus travel next year, he added.
• By 2010, the transport budget will rise to £14.5bn a year, including projects to widen some motorways.
• The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs budget will rise to £4bn in three years' time, including £800m by 2010 for flood defences.
• The overseas aid budget will rise to £9bn by 2010.

  BENEFITS AND PENSIONS

• The amount of child maintenance a family can receive without it affecting their benefits will double from £20 a week to £40 a week by 2010.
• Pension credits will rise £5 a week from next April for single people and £7.65 for couples.

  CULTURE

• There would be an inflation increase for arts and culture spending, Mr Darling said. The budget for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will rise to £2.2bn in three years.

  By 2010, there will be £460m spent on the British Council, the BBC World Service and the launch of BBC Farsi and Arabic TV channels.