Key announcements from today's Spring Budget are summarised below. For those constituents who wish to review the Spring Budget in full, a PDF is also attached.
- Economy turning a corner, with inflation expected to fall to target next quarter, wages consistently rising faster than prices and better growth than European neighbours.
- Chancellor sticking to the plan by putting over £900 a year back into the average worker’s pocket thanks to changes at Autumn Statement and a second Employee National Insurance tax cut from 10% to 8% in April for 27 million working people.
- 2 million self-employed also get a second tax cut through a further 2p reduction in the NICs main rate from 8% to 6% - saving the average self-employed worker £650 when combined with cuts at Autumn Statement.
- Personal tax cuts since Autumn are worth £20 billion, slashes the effective personal tax rate for an average earner to its lowest level since 1975, and will lead to equivalent of 200,000 more full time workers joining the labour market.
- High Income Child Benefit Charge to be assessed on a household-basis by April 2026, and immediate support for working families by increasing the threshold to £60,000 and halving the rate at which Child Benefit is repaid – representing a £1,260 boost on average for around half a million working families.
- The NHS in England will receive a £2.5 billion day-to-day funding boost for 2024/25 and £3.4 billion in capital investment over the forecast period to help unlock £35 billion in productivity savings over the next Parliament by harnessing new technology like AI and cutting admin workloads - part of landmark Public Sector Productivity Plan to deliver better public services.
- The average car driver will save £50 this year as the 5p cut and freeze to fuel duty is maintained until March 2025, while pubs, breweries and distilleries will benefit from a further freeze to alcohol duty until February 2025 – which will also save consumers money on their favourite tipple.
- New tax reliefs and investments will help establish the UK as a world leader in high-growth industries such as the creative sector, advanced manufacturing and life sciences, while 28,000 SMEs will be taken out of VAT registration altogether – encouraging them to invest and grow.
- Sticks to the plan by delivering lower taxes, better public services and more investment, while increasing size of economy by 0.2% in 2028-29 and meeting fiscal rules – taking the long-term decisions needed to build a brighter future.