Comprehensive Spending Review as it happened

Find out how the Comprehensive Spending Review unfolded on Entrepreneur Country throughout the day with our minute-by-minute round up.

Today the Chancellor George Osborne unveils the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review which is expected  to detail the largest programme of spending cuts in the UK for a generation.

It is widely anticipated that departmental budget cuts will range between 25-40% with reports suggesting this could result in 500,000 public sector jobs being axed by 2014-15 but what will the impact be on business and entrepreneurs.

A copy of the full government spending review is available from the HM Treasury website

1537: Peter Jones of the BBC's Dragons Den tweets, "I love being positive about this country but I will say this: "If we don't wake up and heavily invest in Enterprise Education we are doomed". 

1532: Lord Sugar tweets, "How is private sector expected to deal with increased unemployment of £490k? Osborne fails to realise deficit can't be cut without growth"

1342: Alan Johnson says "deepest cuts in living memory" are a "reckless gamble" and affect the poorest most

1335: The Shadow Chancellor rises to speak, describing the budget as an idealogic objective for many conservatives

1325: Cuts to unprotected government departments nearer to 19% than the 25% announced in June's emergency budget, less than the 20% announced by the previous Labour government

1324: BBC license fee to be frozen for next 6 years

1320: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has agreed a 7.1% cut in its annual budget, which was £21.1bn last year. Vince Cable has fought hard to ensure the science budget is frozen at £4.6bn although savings of £324m will be found within this. The green investment bank is to get £1bn from the government with the rest coming from the private sector. An extra 75,000 adult apprenticeships will be funded, although the "train to gain" programme will be axed. Some 24 quangos are to go. The Chancellor says that "Britain is a world leader in science research and it is vital to our future success"- "Future investment in tech, science and green energy will move UK away from a dependence on financial services"

The £4.6bn scientific research budget will be maintained and ring-fenced for the next four years. The settlement means a cut in real terms of around 10% taking account of inflation.

The protected funds, which make up the majority of government spending on scientific research, includes £3.5bn for the seven research councils and £1bn for university research through the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
The remainder is spent on the Higher Education Innovation Fund, the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and science education outreach.

A further £1.4bn spent on large science facilities and administration may face cuts of up to 50%. The "flat cash" settlement is a success for scientists and campaigners who have argued that research and innovation are crucial for Britain's future economic growth.

The £3.5bn will be divided among the research councils over the next few months, when researchers will learn which fields of science the government has prioritised.

1318: "Universities jewel in economic crown"

1317: Largest ever announcement in adult apprenticeships- 75,000

1314: Spending on health research will be protected

1308: Government will increase use of digital applications in order to reduce overheads in administering welfare

1304: The state pension age will reach 66 in 2020, 4 years earlier than before

1301: Institute of Fiscal Studies publish Public Finance Bulletin for October

1258: Bank levy legislation to be published tomorrow

1257: "Our aim will be to extract the maximum sustainable tax revenues from the financial services industry"

1251: "We will focus on encouraging businesses to export goods and services abroad and help them do that"

1240: Themes for the spending review- "Reform, Fairness and Growth"

1232: The Chancellor begins, "today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt ... It is a hard road, but it leads to a better future"

1231: Spending Review begins

1211: PM announces a freezing of science budget

1201: Prime Ministers Questions begin

1137: Alistair Darling tells Sky News, "I remain fundamentally concerned that the job cuts being envisaged will jeopardise the economic recovery"

1100: The Federation of Small Businesses supports government spending plans adding "We now look to the government for the same dynamism and swiftness on a Programme of Growth. It is small businesses, which employ more than 50% of the UK workforce and contribute to 50% of the UK's GDP, that will drive economic growth and decrease the size of the deficit"

1059: TaxPayers' Alliance publish The Real National Debt: A Decade of Reckless Growth

1045: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg writes to Liberal Democrats explaining the justification for spending cuts saying 'its not an easy decision'

1039: Lord Sugar tweets ' Its a trick in politics to leak bad news first its the wind before the storm so when announced today there is no shock'

1020: Julie Meyer speaks to Business Weekly about backing entrepreneurs to stimulate economic growth

1008: Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond says that a strong summer recovery is being put at risk by the government's "slash and burn" policies: "If you're a very large company at the present moment, you can get access to capital. But most job creation is going to come from small and medium sized businesses who have yet to get access to the bank finance to allow them to expand."

0912: Labour leader Ed Miliband speaking to the BBC as he left his home this morning:

‘What the government should be doing is putting in place a plan to reduce the deficit, but also protect growth and jobs in our country. What I fear we're going to hear today is an irresponsible gamble with our economy and indeed many of the frontline services that people rely on in our communities ... There is an alternative, there is a different way, but I fear what the government is going to do is take an irresponsible gamble with our nation's economy. People will be very fearful about what is being announced today, fearful for their jobs, fearful for many of the services they rely upon up and down the country.’

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Related articles: Cutting the budget deficit and red tape will generate jobs in the private sector

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