The government also foreshadowed some of its welfare-to-work reforms such as the working family tax credit and more support for childcare.

BBC: What is a pre-budget report?

Accounting fiddles, such as replacing Family Credit (spending) with the Working Families Tax Credit (not spending) have helped too.

ECONOMIST: The long honeymoon | The

For example, family credit, a benefit for low-income working parents, is being replaced by the working-families tax credit, a tax relief.

ECONOMIST: Public spending