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Mr Speaker, this is a long-overdue reform to our tax-policy making process and brings the UK into line with best practice recommended by the IMF, IFS, Institute for government and many others.

Today I can announce the National Living Wage will increase from £7.20 to £7.50 in April next year. That’s a pay rise worth over £500 a year to a full-time worker.

The growth corridor between Cambridge Milton Keynes and Oxford could help fire the British economy, but only if we back it with the homes and infrastructure it needs to thrive. Last week the NIC presented the compelling case for investment in East West rail and the Oxford Cambridge Expressway, as part of a wider joined up plan to help this region succeed. This is a once in a generation opportunity and the government is absolutely right to accept those recommendations.

But we must sustain this effort over the long term if we are to make a lasting difference to the UK’s productivity performance.

Currently, for every £1 earned after tax above an income threshold, a person receiving Universal Credit has their benefit award reduced by 65p and keeps 35p. They will now keep 37p for every £1, from April 2017.