Osborne: Budget to be held on 23 March

Chancellor George Osborne has announced the 2011 Budget will be held on 23 March.

He told MPs he had set the date now in order to give people a four month notice period - in contrast to Alistair Darling giving just two weeks warning before the March Budget.

In another departure from the previous administration, Osborne has also decided to scrap the annual Pre-Budget report, originally brought in by Gordon Brown.

The Chancellor revealed the date of the 2011 Budget to the Treasury Select Committee whilst giving evidence on the impact of last month's Spending Review in which he unveiled £81bn in cuts.

Osborne held his first Budget in June, fulfilling a Tory pre-election pledge to do so within 50 days of taking power.