On 23 November 2016, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond, delivered his 2016 Autumn Statement. It is the first time we have seen the government's post-Brexit spending plans, a period that is expected to see economic uncertainty and constrained business investment. These are policies aimed at supporting the economy during the country's transition from the EU.

There certainly seemed to be lots of big numbers with equally big claims. For example, the government is going to prioritise investment in infrastructure and innovation, with a new National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) of £23 billion over the next five years. This infrastructure investment will unlock land for housing, with a new £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to deliver infrastructure for up to 100,000 new homes in areas of high demand. London will receive £3.15 billion as its share of national affordable housing funding to deliver over 90,000 homes. Also, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has been asked for its recommendations on the country's future infrastructure needs. Even the Northern Powerhouse made a surprise return, with the go ahead for a programme of major roads schemes in the north.

At the outset, the Chancellor paid tribute to his predecessor:

"My style will be different from his. I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling rabbits from hats than my successor as foreign secretary has been at retrieving balls from the back of scrums."

Towards the end, he said this was the last Autumn Statement and the March 2017 Budget will be the last spring budget. From 2017, we are moving to autumnal budgets and spring statements. The same news, just delivered at different times of the year, so more pumpkins (and fireworks) perhaps, less daffodils and Easter bunnies!

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