The Chancellor has today revealed his Autumn Budget and Spending Review, saying it will help working families meet the cost of living, support businesses’ recovery, deliver world-class public services, and drive economic growth across the country.
Rishi Sunak MP announced that the UK economy is forecast to return to pre-pandemic levels by January 2022.
Measures announced today that will affect residents of Totnes and South Devon include:
- An increase in the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 and increasing public sector pay.
- A tax cut for low-income families by reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63p to 55p, while increasing the Work Allowance by £500. These two measures will give 2 million low-income families across the UK an extra £1,000 in their pocket each year.
- A business rates cut next year of at least 50% for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, and the cancellation of next year’s planned increase in the business rates multiplier.
- The creation of a new business rates reliefs to incentivise improvements and green investment.
- The simplification of the alcohol duty system to make it fairer, meaning weaker alcohols such as beer will become cheaper. Pubs will be boosted by a cut on the duty on draught beer and cider by 5%, while a new small producer relief will be introduced for small cidermakers.
- The freezing of fuel duty for the twelfth year in a row and creation of a new lower rate of Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights within the UK.
- The increase in spending on health services across the UK by £44 billion, delivering 40 new hospitals, 70hospital upgrades, 100 new community diagnostic centres, 50,000 more nurses and 50 million primary care appointments.
- An additional £4.7 billion of funding per year to schools by 2024, and tripling of the annual spending on Special Educational Needs places. Additional funding will also be provided for children and early years, including an extra £170 million for childcare providers and £150 million to support training and development for the early years workforce.
- A multi-year investment for housing worth nearly £24 billion, including £11.5 billion to build 180,000 new affordable homes, an extra £1.8 billion to bring brownfield land into use, and £5 billion to remove unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings.
Full details of the Autumn budget can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-r…
