The Coalition Government's Spending Review 2010:

• introduces fundamental reforms to simplify the welfare system, promoting work and personal responsibility through the new Universal Credit as well as providing enhanced support for those with the greatest barriers to employment through the Work Programme. The Universal Credit will be introduced over two Parliaments to replace the current complex system of means tested working age benefits. It will ensure that work always pays and reduce fraud and error, while helping ensure that the welfare system is affordable;

• puts the welfare system on a sustainable footing, making net welfare savings of £7 billion a year, including through withdrawing Child Benefit from families with a higher rate taxpayer, reforming Employment and Support Allowance, controlling the cost of tax credits, and capping the amount a workless household can receive in benefits to no more than an average family gets by going out to work;

• makes social housing more responsive, flexible and fair so that more people can access social housing in ways that better reflect their needs. In future, social housing will more effectively reflect individual needs and changing circumstances. Social landlords will be able to offer a growing proportion of new social tenants new intermediate rental contracts that are more flexible, at rent levels between current market and social rents. The terms of existing social tenancies and their rent levels remain unchanged. Taken together with continuing, but more modest, capital investment in social housing, this will allow the Government to deliver up to 150,000 new affordable homes over the Spending Review period; and

• allocates £2 billion a year of additional funding by 2014-15 to support social care. Combined with a programme of reform and efficiency savings, such as greater use of personal budgets, this will mean local authorities will be able to improve outcomes and will not need to reduce eligibility for services.