Chancellor Gordon Brown set out what is likely to be his last budget earlier today. Amongst the more predictable economic, fiscal and other random measures announced, some points of interest include:

\x95 Brown promised to double training for women with low skills and addressing pay discrimination
\x95 The value of child care vouchers is to increase by \xA35 a week by \xA355
\x95 There will be free off-peak national bus travel for pensioners and disabled people from April 2008
\x95 VAT on condoms and other contraceptives has been cut from the prevailing rate of 17.5% to 5% (meaning the over-the-counter cost of the morning after pill could fall from around \xA325 to around \xA322)

There\x92s a list of the key points on BBC News, and you can read the full Budget report here.

Posted by Lynne Miles on 22 March 2006, at 4:02 PM