Budget 2023: Jeremy Hunt to set out economic plans as proposed £4bn childcare boost welcomed by experts

Only one voter in 10 is confident that the budget will provide them with enough help with the cost of living, according to new polling from YouGov.

But almost four out of five people said extending the energy support guarantee, which is happening, would be helpful.

Earlier I said in a post that the Treasury did not release the normal pre-budget photograph last night of the chancellor working on his speech with aides. I’ve taken it down, because it turned out they did; it was just hard to find them, because they weren’t in the usual place. Here’s one. The caption does not say what Jeremy Hunt and his aides were looking at on the phone, but perhaps it was the news that the Guardian was splashing their big announcement.

Jeremy Hunt with aides ahead of his budget speech. Photograph: HM Treasury

Overnight the Treasury released an extract from Jeremy Hunt’s budget speech. He will say:

In the autumn we took difficult decisions to deliver stability and sound money.

Today, we deliver the next part of our plan: a budget for growth.

Not just growth from emerging out of a downturn.

But long term, sustainable, healthy growth that pays for our NHS and schools, finds good jobs for young people, provides a safety net for older people.

…all whilst making our country one of the most prosperous in the world.

Today I deliver that by…

… removing the obstacles that stop businesses investing;

… tackling the labour shortages that stop them recruiting;

… breaking down the barriers that stop people working;

…and harnessing British ingenuity to make us a science and tech superpower.

Hundreds of thousands of workers are on strike today in what threatens to be the biggest strike since the current wave of industrial action started last year, PA Media reports. PA says:

Members of several trade unions will take action, mounting hundreds of picket lines across the country amid continuing anger over issues including pay, jobs, pensions and conditions.

Those striking include teachers, university lecturers, civil servants, junior doctors, London Underground drivers and BBC journalists.

Despite talks being held between unions and the Westminster government, the public sector strikes remain deadlocked.

Some of the strikes, such as those by teachers, will only be held in England as progress has been made in Wales and Scotland.

Aslef union members at a picket line outside Rickmansworth Underground station in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, this morning. Photograph: Harry Stedman/PA

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats have both issued statements this morning saying the Treasury’s decision to extend the energy price guarantee at its current rate for another three months does not go far enough.

Stewart Hosie, the SNP’s economy spokesperson, said:

And Sarah Olney, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson, said:

This does not go far enough. Instead of a sticking plaster for another three months, we need meaningful action now.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the chancellor to cut energy bills by £500 per household. This would make a significant difference to households and the government can afford to do it, they are choosing not to.

In three months time families will once again be facing a cliff edge of unaffordable heating bills.

Good morning. Last year we had a series of huge fiscal announcements from the Treasury, as well as perhaps the most consequential “mini-budget” of all time (it brought down a PM), but we never an actual, proper budget. Today’s will be the first real once since autumn 2022. Jeremy Hunt will deliver it at 12.30pm.

Rather, deliver what is left of it. The Treasury itself has already briefed many of the significant measures in it. It sent out at least eight budget-related press notices in recent days, and another one arrived this morning, confirming that under the energy price guarantee energy unit costs will be capped for another three months, so that the average household faces an annual bill of £2,500. The cap was due to rise at the end of April, pushing an average bill up to £3,000. There is more coverage of this on our business live blog.

Chancellors always pre-announce some of the second-order budget announcement, because otherwise they will get no coverage on the day, but they like to save up something popular for the day itself. Conventionally, this is described as the “rabbit” being pulled out of the hat. Yesterday the Guardian got hold of the rabbit, and we yanked it out ourselves. Hunt is going to announce a £4bn expansion of free childcare for one- and two-year-olds in England. You can read the details here.

Magicians pull rabbits out of hats by means of an illusion; it’s fake. Budget announcements are meant to be a bit more credible, and so far the reaction to the childcare news has been positive.

James Bowen, director of policy for school and nursery at NAHT, the union for headteachers, said:

While we will need to look closely at the detail, if the government does increase the hourly funding rates to early years providers this will be welcome news. We know that the funding settings currently receive from government is woefully inadequate and many providers simply cannot afford to operate at those levels.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the news was welcome, but that a wider review in this area was needed.

Abby Jitendra, a family policy expert at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, also applauded the announcement, while saying wider change was needed.

Sebastian Payne, who runs Onward, a right-leaning thinktank, also praised the announcement.

And this is from Justine Roberts, founder of the Mumsnet website.

If you will forgive the mangling of two hackneyed political cliches, Hunt may be pulling out a rabbit, but shooting the fox. Labour has made it clear that it wants to make a big childcare promise part of its “retail offer” to voters at the next election. Hunt is now making that harder. In an initial response to the story, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, told LBC last night.

If it’s a serious package that’s going to make a difference to working parents, we’ll back it.

I will be covering the budget announcement with my colleague Graeme Wearden, who normally writes the business live blog, and bringing you analysis and reaction afterwards. Here are the key times for the day.

12pm: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.

12.30pm: Jeremy Hunt delivers the budget.

2.30pm: Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, holds a press conference.

I’ll try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com.