Autumn Statement 2012: live - Telegraph.co.uk

06.38 The Guardian says this morning that "only a fraction" of the new capital spending that George Osborne announced in last year's autumn statement has been spent so far:

Less than half of the public investment trumpeted by the chancellor last November has been paid out, and none of the £21bn in private investment promised has yet been spent.

Of the key public investment schemes announced last autumn, work has not yet begun on a single one of the half dozen major road schemes published by George Osborne, and £1bn of regional growth fund money has been "allocated" but is now being studied by lawyers before it is actually handed out to help businesses in more deprived areas.

Up to £21bn of new private sector investment was announced, but there is no word on £1bn earmarked for the regulated industries and of £20bn that had been expected to be raised or leveraged by pension funds, just £700m has been committed and not a penny has yet been spent.

06.32 Speaking of Radio 4, Today presenter Evan Davis tweets:

06.24 Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, has just spoken to Radio 4, arguing that the Government should do more for small, fast-growing companies that drive economic recovery. Echoing his sentiments from a joint letter to The Daily Telegraph earlier this week with fellow business leaders, where he called for Government to encourage equity financing, he said:

I think this is the key, this focus on SMEs. There are 4.8m of them in the UK, and we believe they're key to recovery in the UK job market, and that's what growth is at the end of the day.

What we are proposing is a recalibration of the fiscal system. In the EU, historically up to 70c of corporate funding has come out of bank lending, and only 19pc in the States.

06.10 Stay with us through the day and we'll bring you all the news and analysis as it happens. The Chancellor speaks in Parliament at 12.30pm. Here's what the experts expect from today's statement.

06.05 It's still six hours until Mr Osborne stands up in Parliament and delivers his Autumn Statement, but the rumour mill is already whirring.

Downing Street announced yesterday that Whitehall will be forced to shave £5bn off its budget in order to raise cash for schools, transport and science.

It's widely expected that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will slash the UK's growth forecasts.

The OBR is also expected to tell the Chancellor that he will have to borrow about £10bn more than planned this year, and even larger amounts in subsequent years.

Here's our Autumn Statement checklist, looking at what George will say.

06.00 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Chancellor George Osborne's 2012 Autumn Statement.