WINNERS

● Health: The NHS emerges as the clear winner with a 4 per cent a year real terms increase – more than education, housing and transport and more than any other budget except overseas aid and security and counter-terrorism.
● Counter-terrorism and security: a 9.6 per cent real terms increase in the budget for the security and intelligence agencies – part of a £1bn increase to £3.5bn by 2010 in counter-terrorism and intelligence spending.
● Education: a small addition to the tight spending settlement already agreed, providing more money for schools.
● Transport: Crossrail’s go-ahead is combined with a 2.25 per cent real terms rise in the department’s programme budget.
● Housing: £6.5bn over three years to increase the number of new social homes to 45,000 a year by 2010, a 50 per cent increase on the numbers expected to be built this year.