The Government will protect funding for major infrastructure, flood protection and coastal management spend in the UK.

The announcement came in Chancellor George Osborne's speech to the House of Commons outlining £83 billion of public spending cuts.

The Chancellor also said that the Government would provide £1 billion for the creation of a Green Investment Bank - the Government hopes that further money will also be raised via the private sector and the proceeds of future Government assets sales.

Government Departments facing significant cuts in budgets include the Department for Energy and Climate Change where overall, the total resource settlement will fall by an average 5% a year between now and 2015 – but there will be a large increase in capital spending, partly to meet unavoidable commitments on nuclear decommissioning.

The Department of Environment and Rural Affairs will have to deliver savings of an average 8% a year over the same period – but the Government plans to fund a major improvement in flood defences and coastal erosion management. 

The Chancellor also said that the Government "will still be spending tens of billions of pounds on Britain’s future infrastructure". Next week the  government is due to set out its national infrastructure plan – the Chancellor commented that this would enable private money also be put to work in building the economic infrastructure businesses needed.