Spring Statement: At-a-glance guide

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivers the Spring Statement 2023 to the House of Commons

 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday. Here are the main points:

Public finances

  • Office for Budget Responsibility predicts UK will avoid recession in 2023. Adds the economy will shrink by 0.2%
  • Growth of 1.8% predicted for next year, with 2.5% in 2025 and 2.1% in 2026.
  • 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.

Business

  • Main rate of corporation tax, paid by businesses on taxable profits above £250,000, will increase from 19% to 25%.
  • Companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 to pay between 19% and 25% corporation tax.
  • 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, each funded with £80m over the next five years.
  • Reduced paperwork for international traders, who will also be given longer to submit customs forms under streamlined rules.

Taxation

  • Cap on amount workers can accumulate in pensions savings over their lifetime before having to pay extra tax (currently £1.07m) to be abolished.
  • Tax-free yearly allowance for pension pot to rise from £40,000 to £60,000.
  • 55p cut to fuel duty on petrol and diesel, due to end in April, kept for another year.
  • 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.

Energy

  • Government subsidies limiting typical household energy bills to £2,500 a year extended for three months until the end of June.
  • £200m to bring energy charges for prepayment meters into line with prices for customers paying by direct debit.
  • 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.

Labour market

  • 30 hours of free childcare for working parents in England expanded to cover one and two-year-olds, in a bid to help them work more.
  • Families on universal credit to receive childcare support up front instead of in arrears, with the £646-a-month per child cap raised to £951.
  • £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.
  • Funding for up to 50,000 places on new voluntary employment scheme for disabled people, called Universal Support.
  • Tougher requirements to look for work and increased job support for lead child carers on universal credit.
  • More places on ‘skills boot camps’ to encourage over-50s who have left their jobs to return to the workplace.
  • Immigration rules to be relaxed for five roles in construction sector, to ease labour shortages.

Other announcements

  • Commitment to raise defence spending by £11bn over the next five years.
  • Prison sentences for those convicted of marketing tax avoidance schemes.
  • An extra £10m over next two years for charities helping to prevent suicide.
  • Streamlined approvals process promised for new medical products.
  • £900m for new super computer facility, to help UK’s AI industry.

READ MORE: Liverpool to become £80m investment zone

Comments (0)
Add Comment