British Chancellor Of The Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has delivered his first budget in front of many MP’s at the House Of Commons. In an effort to sure up the country’s finances and help to promote growth in the economy, there were many measures which were laid out aimed at encouraging people to work longer in their lives and help create a stronger market place in which everyone can flourish and cater for those in need during these difficult times. There was strong emphasis placed on helping to prompt those who had recently left their jobs to return to work which would help to boost business investment and create more confidence in the economy. The measures which were introduced were divided in to different sections to help ensure that there was no confusion between what was affecting different roles or jobs.
With regard to taxation and wages, there was a limit placed on how much workers can accumulate in their pension pots. This is currently set at just over a million pounds but is due to be abolished. There has also been an increase in the amount people can save up in their pensions every year to help make sure they can afford a comfortable retirement with out being a burden on the state in their later years. This has been raised from £40 000 to £60 000 after having been frozen for nine years.
There was also a five pence cut on fuel duty which affects people when they fill up their cars with petrol or diesel. This was due to end in April but has now been kept in place for another year meaning that there will be less pressure on people who have to go out to work or pick their children up during a time when the price of different fuels was rising uncontrollably.
Alcohol taxes to rise in line with inflation from August, with new reliefs for beer, cider and wine sold in pubs
Tax on tobacco to increase by 2% above inflation, and 6% above inflation for hand-rolling tobacco
This should help to strengthen the economy and bring in more to local businesses during times when they may be struggling due to lack of staff because of illness etc. It should also help to give a bit more protection for people’s health by making it slightly more expensive to buy products which may be bad for them. This helps to strengthen the economy as local businesses will be bringing in more money through the tills and will be given more financial security.
There have also been a number of measures put in place to help with the soaring cost of energy. These include the limit for a typical household energy bill which is currently sent at £2500 being extended for a further three months until the end of June. This will give consumers more safety as they won’t be living in fear of having to stay in a cold house in case their energy bill gets too high. There have been cases in the past where people haven’t been seen for a while and have then been found suffering in cold houses or flats.
A number of other measures have also been introduced to ensure that people are helped to manage in this current climate. These include:
£200m to bring energy charges for prepayment meters into line with prices for customers paying by direct debit – affects 4m households
Commitment to invest £20bn over next two decades on low-carbon energy projects, with a focus on carbon capture and storage
Nuclear energy to be classed as environmentally sustainable for investment purposes, with promise of more public funding
£63m to help leisure centres with rising swimming pool heating costs, and invest to become more energy efficient.
With regard to people’s employment, there have been a number of measures put in place to ensure that people can go to work and earn the money they need to survive with out having to worry about how their children will be looked after when they are busy. This includes thirty hours of free child care for working parents in England being expanded to cover one and two year olds. This should help parents who need to go to work while their children are young be able to manage with out having to worry about their children.
Families on Universal Credit will receive child care support up front rather than in areas. This will help to ensure they can manage to afford any services they need to with out having to wait for payments to come in after putting claims in as this sometimes does now.
£600 “incentive payments” for those becoming childminders, and relaxed rules in England to let childminders look after more children
New fitness-to-work testing regime to qualify for health-related benefits
New voluntary employment scheme for disabled people in England and Wales, called Universal Support
Tougher requirements to look for work and increased job support for lead child carers on universal credit
£63m for programmes to encourage retirees over 50 back to work, “returnerships” and skills boot camps
Immigration rules to be relaxed for five roles in construction sector, to ease labour shortages
There was some good news in the budget as the OBR has predicted that the UK will avoid going in to recession this year although the economy will still shrink by 0.2%. There has been 1.8% growth predicted for next year with 2.5% in 2025 and 2.1% in 2026
UK’s inflation rate predicted to fall to 2.9% by the end of this year, down from 10.7% in the last three months of 2022
Underlying debt forecast to be 92.4% of GDP this year, rising to 93.7% in 2024
Main rate of corporation tax, paid by businesses on taxable profits over £250,000, confirmed to increase from 19% to 25%
Companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 to pay between 19% and 25%
Companies able to deduct investment in new machinery and technology to lower their taxable profits
Tax breaks and other benefits for 12 new Investment Zones across the UK, funded by £80m each over the next five years
Reduced paperwork for international traders, who will also be given longer to submit customs forms under streamlined rules
Other measures
Commitment to raise defence spending by £11bn over the next five years
Prison sentences for those convicted of marketing tax avoidance schemes
£200m this year to help local councils in England repair potholes
An extra £10m over next two years for charities in England helping to prevent suicide
Streamlined approvals process promised for new medical products
£900m for new super computer facility, to help UK’s AI industry
