内容摘要：Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) have the power to increase council tax by up to £14 for band D properties - and the equivalent proportional sum for other bands - without triggering a local referendum.

Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) have the power to increase council tax by up to £14 for band D properties - and the equivalent proportional sum for other bands - without triggering a local referendum.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill called the Spring Statement aat a time when the public sector is "on its knees" and the health service is in need of investment.

"This is a time for our own administration to fight back hard against this militarisation agenda," she added."This does not serve the interests of the people here."Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the chancellor needed to change course and argued that Reeves was "punishing" people who were least able to "take the burden".

Little-Pengelly said defence spending was a "necessity" but that she believed the chancellor had a range of political choices and her decisions were "a consequence of a lack of economic growth".Keir Starmer has lost four senior ministers since coming to power last July.

Although she was not a high profile minister, the

is the most significant so far.Social care will be hit by a

The sector welcomed an extra £600m in funding to local authorities for adult and children's social care.But care groups said this would not be enough and would be "wiped off instantly" by increased staffing costs.

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to exempt social care from the rise in National Insurance.The party said the chancellor had provided extra funding for the NHS and other public sector organisations to cover the cost of the tax rise - but because the vast majority of care providers are private they would not benefit from this.