People and organisations across the North East have expressed their disappointment following the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.
Jeremy Hunt promised to "tackle the cost-of-living crisis" and "rebuild our economy" as he set out plans for tax rises and spending cuts.
He said there would be a "shallower downturn" as a result of his measures but the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) believed the economy was "now in recession".
Read more: Autumn statement LIVE: Jeremy Hunt to announce tax hikes and spending cuts to fill 'black hole'
The Conservative MP for South West Surrey presented his plans to parliament at 11.30am on Thursday. They included:
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Energy companies being taxed 35% - up from 25% - on unexpected profits and a 45% levy on electricity generators being imposed to raise roughly £14 billion next year.
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Income tax allowance rates being frozen to 2028 - this means people will pay more tax. As wages go up, so to will the amount of tax people pay, as the rate is frozen.
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State pension payments and means-tested and disability benefits to increase by 10.1%, in line with inflation
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Stamp duty cuts will stay in place until March 2025.
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The threshold at which top tax rate becomes payable reduced from £150,000 to £125,140.
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Electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from vehicle excise duty from April 2025.
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The NHS will receive an extra £3.3 billion for each of the next two years.
Mr Hunt rejected calls to put VAT on independent school fees. He said some estimates believe it could result in up to 90,000 children from the independent sector switching to state schools.
Leader of Newcastle City Council, Cllr Nick Kemp, said the announcement will do nothing to help ordinary people who are struggling to pay for food, energy, rent and mortgages.
He said: "Today is the tip of the iceberg. It is too early to say what impact today’s announcements will have on the council’s budget, and we await the local government funding settlement next month to really understand just how much of the spending cuts will fall on local councils.
"It’s clear that taxes will be going up and more spending cuts are on their way which will do nothing to help ordinary people who are struggling to pay for food, energy, rent and mortgages. Our country is in a desperate situation thanks to the conservative government’s disastrous mismanagement of the economy.
"Never before have people paid so much in tax and got so little in return. We are in a recession and times are only going to get harder."
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said Mr Hunt's Autumn Statement does not reflect what the people in the region need right now. She said the North East is suffering from child poverty and public services are at "breaking point".
She said: "Today the Chancellor had the chance to safeguard the next generation from the hardships of recession and deprivation. He had the chance to deliver long-term investment in public services and end a North South divide in police and public service funding.
"While I welcome the commitment to the devolution of more power to the North-East, today's statement simply didn't reflect what the people of our region need now. We have the highest level of child poverty, our public services are beyond breaking point and the police are being denied the officer numbers needed to keep us safe. This statement did not resolve any of this.
"Northumbria has 12 per cent fewer officers than it did in 2010 and it emerged this week that some forces, noticeably those in the south of England, are now boasting higher overall numbers than they had at the start of 2010. Yet there was no mention of police or police funding in the statement.
"Government is still failing to commit sufficient funds into policing because Government expects the bill to be picked up by hard hit households. The Chancellor said with the plans they’ve tried to be fair, well they haven’t tried hard enough. None of this is fair, particularly in the North-East."
Stephen Bell OBE, CEO of Changing Lives, said the Autumn Statement offers "little comfort" for charities providing vital frontline services for people going through challenging times.
He said: "We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement that benefits will rise in line with inflation, which will go some way towards helping the millions of people who are the most acutely affected by rising living costs. But this will quickly become a drop in the ocean if we do not have the right public services to meet rising demand among people and families who are living in poverty.
"At Changing Lives, we work with people facing the most challenging of circumstances, and already we are seeing an increase in the number of people who are rough sleeping, facing eviction, or who are otherwise in desperate need of support. We recognise that there are difficult choices to be made, but we urge the Government to go further to address long-term underinvestment in frontline services just at the time they are needed the most."
Mary Kelly Foy MP, Labour MP for the City of Durham, has described the Chancellor's Autumn Statement as "arrogant" and "offensive".
She said: "It is outrageous that the Chancellor attempted to lecture the country on managing the economy after the mess caused by his own Government. Let’s be honest with people - no one was talking about cutting public services and hiking working people’s taxes until the recent Conservative chaos.
"Over the past twelve years, they have weakened and now crashed the economy. It’s clear our country can no longer afford a Conservative Government. Ordinary working people are now poorer, and the public services we all rely on are collapsing - all on the Conservatives' watch; all because of the decisions they have made.
"The public will rightly be disgusted that the same Government elected on a manifesto to invest in and level up the North East is now inflicting austerity 2.0 on our communities. Sadly, the Tories will blame anyone but themselves. But worst of all they expect ordinary people to pay for their mess with higher taxes.
"It is arrogant and offensive. While living standards collapse and poverty rises, we have a Government completely out of touch. It has never been clearer that we need a Government on the side of ordinary people, and that means a fresh start with a fairer, greener Labour Government."
Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell said that rather than offering us a way out of the Cost of Living Crisis, the Chancellor has delivered "more of the same".
She said: "Families are grappling with the biggest wage squeeze in a generation. Twelve years of Conservative failure exacerbated by twelve weeks of mini budget chaos has left our economy stagnant, borrowing costs up, prices skyrocketing, and ordinary people unable to meet their most basic needs. Rather than offering us a way out of this crisis, the Chancellor has delivered us more of the same.
"My constituents are set to see their real disposable income fall by more than 7% over the next two years – the biggest fall on record. And with this Statement, the Government has piled on the pressure, announcing a stealth tax raid and another increase in council tax which will leave hard-pressed families with even less in their pockets.
"Meanwhile those with the broadest shoulders somehow remain unscathed. The Chancellor remains set on scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses and still won’t take action on the non-dom tax status, allowing people to live in this country and avoid paying their fair share. This move alone would raise £3.2 billion and could be spent on rebuilding our crumbling NHS.
"Ordinary households are paying the price for Conservative mismanagement and we simply cannot afford it any longer. Our country needs a real plan for growth, functioning public services, a green energy revolution, and a fair and thriving economy in which everyone is better off. Only a Labour Government can deliver this."
Jarrow MP Kate Osborne called for a general election following the Autumn Statement. She said people in our communities need investment rather than cuts.
The Labour MP said: "Tory chaos has left our economy crippled with a £56bn black hole. This economic crisis is a result of 12 years of Tory failure and negligent decision making through the pandemic. Now Hunt and Sunak want our communities and working people to pay for the crisis they caused with a further £30bn in public sector cuts.
"When the Chancellor said today the UK will 'pay our way' he meant our communities will pay. There is nothing compassionate about this Tory Government.
"Yesterday I asked them to end the scandal of child poverty and give the 800,000 kids in families that receive universal credit free school meals - the deputy prime minister replied 'we are not able' yet today Sunak and Hunt confirmed they are able to reward bankers - when they recommitted to lifting the cap on bonuses.
"They could ensure our kids weren’t hungry - they could tax the obscene profits made during covid, they could introduce a one-off 1% wealth tax on households with more than £1 million, generating £260 billion - but instead the Tories are forcing more people into deeper poverty.
"Hunt's Personal allowance and income tax thresholds freeze until 2028 is a tax and national insurance increase by stealth. For all Hunt's hype on a 'temporary' windfall tax - we need a permanent windfall tax on the billions in excess profits.
"Hunt had the cheek to make jokes about the NHS staffing crisis. He did the most damage to our NHS with cuts and privatisation during his time as Health Secretary. Now we have a waiting list of 7 million, 132,000 staff vacancies across our NHS, and 165,000 vacancies in care.
"This budget for the richest is a political choice, poverty is a political choice - one the Tories make over and over again. People in our communities need investment not more cuts and we need a General election now, so we can start to fix this mess."
Following the Autumn Statement, Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central, tweeted: "Britain has so much potential. Right now we're facing a Tory economic crisis that’s holding us back. After today, the people of #Newcastle will be asking themselves: Am I and my family better off with the Tories? The answer is no. #Budget"
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