Autumn Statement 2016: As it happened

What a delightful opening to the Financial Times' leader on the Autumn Statement. Enjoy.  

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Elsewhere in the world - away from the Autumn Statement - US stocks maintained their momentum to close at a new high.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day 59.31 points up at 19,083.18.

The S&P 500 edged to a new peak of 2,204.72  

However, that rush of positivity, buoyed by US president-elect Donald Trump's plans for infrastructure and lighter regulation, failed to spread to America's other main index, the Nasdaq which finished down 5.67 points at 5,380.68.

BBC economics editor, Kamal Ahmed, digs into Philip Hammond's first - and last - Autumn Statement.

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The chancellor pledged to ban "as soon as possible" the fees charged to tenants when they rent a property, which in some cases have "spiralled to hundreds of pounds".

The move's designed to help those squeezed by the rental market, and has sent shares in estate agents down. 

Miles Gibson, a property expert, tells the BBC that some landlords may end up putting the fee into the rent instead.

But he adds: "That's still a benefit because you don't have those big upfront fees and that's what people are really complaining about."

The Financial Times' economics editor, Chris Giles, has his own favorite figure from the Autumn Statement.

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Transferwise, the currency site, is delighted Philip Hammond is investing in Britain's technology sector but believes there are more pressing issues.

Chief executive and co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, says: "...the biggest barrier to growth isn’t access to funding: it’s access to talent.

"We need to attract the best in the world if we’re to build world-class businesses here in the UK. We need clarity on the government’s approach to immigration and reassurance that the best people will not just be able to come here but will be welcome too.”

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The Office for Budget Responsibility was criticised on Wednesday for being too gloomy after cutting its economic forecast for the UK.

But actually, the OBR is perenniallyoptimistic when it comes to productivity. 

Unfortunately, it just keeps getting it wrong as this graphic shows.

If there is one acronym that sums up this year's Autumn Statement, it is JAM. It stands for households who "just about managing". Not everyone likes it though.

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So who were the winners and who were the losers in today's Autumn Statement? Here's a selection: 

Winners

Motorists have been saved from a fuel duty rise for the seventh year in a row. This equals a £130 annual saving for car drivers and £350 for vans.

Savers, burned from Britain's record low interest rate, will be offered a new three-year bond with a rate of 2.2% from Spring next year. People can save up to £3,000. 

Generation rent will get a break after the government promised a ban on up-front letting agent fees in England. However, there is not much in the way of detail on when it will come into force.

Losers

Homeowners, drivers and pet lovers will have to shell out more on insurance after the Chancellor said the insurance premium tax rate will increase from 10% to 12% from June 2017. The insurance industry is not happy.   

NHS charities and health experts have criticised Philip Hammond for failing to pledge more cash for the NHS or social care.

Headteachers claim Mr Hammond did not address funding pressures faced by schools and colleges and warned that a rise in national insurance employer contributions would add to their financial woes. 

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The Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts were way too gloomy for some Brexiteers. 

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "It seems to me that there are two problems with those assumptions. One is that they assume that we will apply tariffs on the same basis inside the European Union, which the Chancellor will know he will be able to remove. 

"And secondly, they're particularly gloomy on the prospects for financial services."

Fellow Tory MP, John Redwood, said: "The OBR are probably still quite wrong about 2017 - their forecast is too low, their borrowing forecast is too high, and we will get good access to the single market once we are out of the EU."

Andrew Neil picks out some of the key announcements and figures from the chancellor Philip Hammond's first Autumn Statement.  

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One of the key policies announced by the chancellor was new spending on housing projects, totalling £3.7bn in England.

Philip Hammond said the money would support the building of up to 100,000 new homes, and amounted to a "step-change" in help for the industry.

Housing Associations - which provide low-cost properties, often to people on low incomes - were delighted with the move.

But Business Live readers haven't been so convinced. 

Steve Tymms had this point about how the re-sale of Housing Association homes is exacerbating the housing shortage.

Email Message: Surely, the continuation of the plan to allow tenants to buy Housing Association properties is ridiculous. The current shortage stems from the decision to sell council houses, thus removing housing stock from the affordable bracket.

In my opinion, in order to get more affordable housing stock, they should be encouraging people to actually sell their current property to a Housing Association, by the offer of the tax breaks (equivalent to the stamp duty which would have been paid to the exchequer in the case of a private purchase).

from Steve Tymms, Belfast

Surely, the continuation of the plan to allow tenants to buy Housing Association properties is ridiculous. The current shortage stems from the decision to sell council houses, thus removing housing stock from the affordable bracket.

In my opinion, in order to get more affordable housing stock, they should be encouraging people to actually sell their current property to a Housing Association, by the offer of the tax breaks (equivalent to the stamp duty which would have been paid to the exchequer in the case of a private purchase).

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Does Capital Economics know something we don't?

It expects the budget to return to balance in 2019/20, rather than remain in deficit throughout the forecast as the OBR anticipates. 

It also predicts that Philip Hammond may provide rabbit-out-of-a-hat surprises in future fiscal statements.

"This [Autumn] Statement will have disappointed many people who were hoping for radical tax measures,  or at least a vision of radical measures yet to come. But time, as well as money, has been short. We may yet see more radical measures in the spring Budget."

A lot of big numbers have flown around today, including the estimate that the UK will have £2trn of debt in five years' time.

To help get our heads round it, Radio 5 live has produced this explainer:

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Stepping away from the Autumn Statement for a moment, trading on Wall Street has so far been mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average maintained its new heights, with trading up 44 points at 19,068.

The index surpassed 19,000 on Tuesday, helped by industrial firms and banks which are expected to benefit from lighter regulation and infrastructure spending under US president-elect Donald Trump.   

Caterpillar Inc, the construction machinery and equipment company, led the risers, up 2.3%. 

The technology-heavy Nasdaq, however, fell by 17 points to 5,369 and the S&P 500 was flat at 2,201.

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In the end, the Chancellor only mentioned the word "NHS" twice, despite calls in the run-up for extra money for the health service.

Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, says it'll be hard to explain to staff "why the NHS is still going to buckle under the pressure".

It's not an Autumn Statement for "working people", she says, with nurses due to get a real-terms pay cut next year.

Philip Hammond said the NHS would receive an extra £10bn by 2020-21, but that figure had already been announced and has been questioned by some MPs.

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Why the Autumn Statement matters to you if you're aged between 16 and 25.

Autumn Statement for 16 to 25-year-olds

Why the Autumn Statement matters to you if you're aged between 16 and 25.

Read more

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Whitehall is "still unacceptably negative" about the UK leaving the EU, according to a pro-Brexit economist.

Patrick Minford, who is part of the Economists for Brexit group, said the OBR and Treasury continue to under-estimate the positive effects from the UK leaving the bloc in their forecasts. 

The OBR predicts that growth will slow down in 2017 and 2018 before returning to 2.1% growth in 2020.   

"It's still unacceptably negative. What is lacking here is any justification from these bodies of what they said," Prof Minford told the BBC. 

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has "embraced the Treasury's negativity" and his Autumn Statement "came over as unrelentingly negative", he said. 

Economists for Brexit forecast growth of 3% in 2020, helped by the boost to trade and less regulation after leaving the EU.  

Personal finance correspondent Simon Gompertz tweets: