It leaves some discretionary funding in place, such as free transport for pupils on free school meals, and a subsidy for other pupils who will be affected.

BBC: children on school bus

The threatened subsidy for over-16s' travel to school will continue, eligibility criteria for care funding will not change and there will be a smaller than suggested cut to money spent to keep older people living in their own homes.

BBC: Norfolk County Council to axe 1,000 jobs to save money

One of Mr Souza's useful innovations was Fundef, a federal subsidy to raise teachers' pay and other primary-school spending in areas where they were dismally low, principally in the poor north-east.

ECONOMIST: Start at the beginning

Proposals such as a new form of rice subsidy, a doubling of the salaries of new civil servants and free tablet computers to all children starting school will cost a lot of money.

ECONOMIST: After the euphoria, a deluge of problems