Nov
24
Below is a summary of the key points that was outlined during the autumn statement yesterday by the Chancellor.
Taxation
- Income tax threshold to be raised to £11,500 in April, from £11,000.
- Higher rate income tax threshold to rise to £50,000 by the end of the Parliament
- Tax savings on salary sacrifice and benefits in kind to be stopped, with exceptions for ultra-low emission cars, pensions, childcare and cycling
- National Living Wage to rise from £7.20 an hour to £7.50 from April next year
- Employee and employer National Insurance thresholds to be equalised at £157 per week from April 2017
- Insurance premium tax to rise from 10% to 12% next June
Public Borrowing
- Government finances forecast to be £122bn worse offin the period until 2021 than forecast in March’s Budget
- Debt will rise from 84.2% of GDP last year to 87.3% this year, peaking at 90.2% in 2017-18
- Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts borrowing of £68.2bn this year, then £59bn in 2017-18, £46.5bn in 2018-19, £21.9bn in 2019-20 and £20.7bn in 2020-21
- Public spending this year to be 40% of GDP – down from 45% in 2010
State of the Economy
- OBR growth forecast upgraded to 2.1% in 2016 – from 2.0% – then downgraded to 1.4% in 2017, from 2.2%
- Forecast growth of 1.7% in 2018, 2.1% in 2019 and 2020 and 2% in 2021.
Housing
- Ban on upfront fees charged by letting agents in England “as soon as possible”
- £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund to help provide 100,000 new homes in high-demand areas
- £1.4bn to deliver 40,000 extra affordable homes
Business
- Doubling UK Export Finance capacity
- £400m into venture capital funds through the British Business Bank to unlock £1bn in finance for growing firms
Transport
- £1.1bn extra investment in English local transport networks
- £220m to reduce traffic pinch points
- £23bn to be spent on innovation and infrastructure over five years
- £2bn per year by 2020 for research and development funding