When Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the first economic budget of his tenure back in March, many people were of the opinion that he was trying to steady the ship wherever possible in the aftermath of Brexit. In which case, any big changes to fiscal policy were to be postponed until later in the year.
Last week saw Hammond unveil many of those changes to the House of Commons as part of his autumn budget. While his focus on increased funding for education – particularly digital skills, computer science and maths – is certainly positive, it’s hard to mask the underlying theme of damage limitation.
For those unfamiliar with GDP targets, the UK’s official economic target is to achieve 2% growth each year. This is actually the first budget in modern record that the Chancellor has forecasted less than 2% growth in any one of the next five years. If there’s any clear signal that the British economy is failing to meet long-term productivity standards, this is it.
Despite the bigger picture looking slightly bleak for the country as a whole, the majority of taxpayers will find themselves keeping a few extra quid in their pocket at the end of each month. This is due to the personal allowance increase of £350 – up to £11,850 – which will come into effect in April 2018.
As for pensioners and other non-tax payers, the net increase will be lower, although they do stand to gain an extra £8 per month following the changes. This is with the exception of some married pensioners, who stand to gain as much as £57 per month. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that these increases must also be weighed up against inflation and rising prices for household goods.
As always, housing also remains one of the country’s main concerns. Chancellor Hammond addressed the issue head-on, explaining that not enough homes are being built but that there is no simple, short-term solution to the problem. Instead, long-term changes to planning regulations, construction legislation and policies at local council level are needed.
It looks like we may have a challenging few years ahead.
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