Energy bill help, minimum wage rise and bank taxes - what could be in the Budget?

Chancellor John Healey will set out Labour's tax and spending plans when he delivers his first Budget at around 12:30 on Wednesday.

The speech, which usually lasts about an hour, will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and on the BBC News website.

He and Prime Minister Andy Burnham are hoping to give households "breathing space" amid the ongoing high cost of living and they have already announced measures to change gas bills.

But Healey has also refused to rule out some tax increases to potentially pay for support he could distribute elsewhere.

The government has run an unusually tight ship, preventing policies leaking out ahead of time, but here are the key measures expected.

Household energy bills are set to see their biggest rise in four years in January, with a typical annual bill forecast to jump by £276.

Healey has announced that standing charges for household gas bills will be removed for about 23 million homes. These charges are fixed daily fees that are paid by households no matter how much gas they use, and average £108 a year.

The government says energy regulator Ofgem will aim to deliver the removal of these charges in 2027 or "as soon as possible after".

However, this will be offset by higher unit costs for gas. Overall the Treasury estimates that three-fifths of households will see an average saving of £45 a year. Lower gas users will save more but higher users will end up with bigger bills than they have now.

The government also plans to remove tariffs from 100 food items, which it calculates could save households up to £21 per year - or 40p a week - when combined with existing tariff suspensions that were introduced in June.

The BBC understands the chancellor will keep fuel duty frozen at the Budget and keep in place the 5p fuel duty cut introduced by Rishi Sunak in 2022.

The Budget will contain more details on Burnham's planned Your First Home scheme, aimed at helping first-time buyers in England to purchase a property.

The scheme will allow people to buy a new-build home with a deposit of 2.5%. It would provide them with a loan worth 20% of their property's value to help pay for the purchase.

The threshold for eligible buyers will be those with combined incomes of £110,000 outside London, and £140,000 in the capital.

When the chancellor sits down, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish economic forecasts for the next five years.

It will set out whether the government is likely to meet the rules it has set for managing the public finances, and how the economy is expected to perform.

Its judgement on the government's plans is keenly watched by financial markets and can have a significant impact on confidence, in turn affecting government borrowing costs.

Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch will respond to the speech in the House of Commons.

MPs then debate the measures for three days before voting on them.

If approved by MPs, tax changes can come into effect immediately.

However, the government must pass a finance bill to make them permanent.