In his final Autumn Statement before the 2105 General Election, Chancellor George Osborne announced a raft of measures which would have been music to the ears of some and painful for others.

House buyers were given a boost with reductions on stamp duty while local authorities are facing yet more years of cuts to their budgets from central government.

Below is a summary of the key points raised during yesterday's Autumn Statement:

TAX

● Reform of residential property stamp duty

● UK's net payments to European Union to fall by about £1 billion this year and next year and decline in real terms over the next five years

● Inheritance tax exemption extended to cover aid workers who die dealing with humanitarian emergencies

● Hospice charities, search and rescue and air ambulance to be granted VAT refunds

● Changes to rules on bank profit offsets to raise almost £4 billion

● Clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance to raise £2.8 billion

● Charge for non-domestic tax status to rise to £60,000 a year for those resident for 12 of the last 14 years and £90,000 for those in the country for 17 of 20 years

● Air passenger duty for children under 12 abolished in May 2015 and for under 16s in 2016

● People who die under 75 to be enabled to pass on annuities tax free

● Limit on saving in New ISAs to rise to £15,240 and ISAs to be inherited tax free

● National Insurance on young apprentices to be abolished

● Income tax free personal allowance to rise to £10,600 rather than the planned £10,500 next year, giving wage boost of £825 a year

● Higher rate income tax threshold to rise to £42,385 next year

ECONOMY

● Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) GDP growth forecast for this year is three per cent, then 2.4 per cent in 2015, 2.2 per cent in 2016, then 2.4 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 2.3 per cent in subsequent years

● OBR revises down inflation forecast "significantly" to 1.5 per cent this year, 1.2 per cent next year and 1.7 per cent the year after

● OBR forecasts deficit to fall from £97.5 billion last year to £91.3 billion this year

BUSINESS AND EDUCATION

● Expansion of British Business Bank, extension for a further year in the Funding for Lending scheme for smaller firms and new tax break for orchestras and children's television tax credit

● R&D tax credit increased for small and medium companies to 23 per cent and for large firms to 11 per cent, while small business rate relief is doubled for another year

● Inflation-linked increase in business rates capped at two per cent and discount for shops, pubs and cafés increased by 50 per cent to £1,500

● Government-backed loans of up to £10,000 made available for all students undertaking postgraduate masters degrees

INVESTMENT

● Additional £2 billion every year for the frontline of the NHS and a £1.2 billion investment in GP services paid for from foreign exchange fines

● Employment Allowance of £2,000 to be extended to carers

● New sovereign wealth fund to invest proceeds from shale gas resources in the north, in the north of England

PENSIONS AND EFFICIENCIES

● Public sector pay restraint in the next Parliament to deliver savings "commensurate" with the £12 billion achieved over the past four years

● Commitment to complete public service pension reforms, saving £1.3 billion a year

● Plan published for a further £10 billion of Whitehall efficiencies

● Universal Credit work allowances to be frozen for a further year

● Total welfare spending set to be £1 billion lower than Budget forecast and to continue falling as share of GDP