This week’s Budget: An overview of the £30bn of investments announced so far October 25, 2021 More than £30bn of investment has already been revealed by the Treasury ahead of Wednesday’s Budget. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said on Sunday that “(over) the last year, I’ve been focused on delivering our plan for jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods, their incomes, their jobs”. But he said he would now be “looking to the future and [...]
Minimum wage set to rise to £9.50 per hour October 25, 2021 The National Living Wage will increase from £8.91 per hour to £9.50 in the Budget this week. The 59p an hour boost means a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will see a pay rise of more than £1,000 a year. This is a 6.6 per cent increase in the minimum wage, which is [...]
Budget: Regeneration of brownfield sites could deliver 160,000 new homes October 25, 2021 A cash injection of £1.8bn, set to be announced in the Budget this week, should help brownfield sites covering the equivalent of 2,000 football pitches to be turned into plots for new homes. It is hoped hundreds of thousands of homes could be built on regenerated land across the country, while England’s planning system will [...]
HS2 trains on Yorkshire leg will run on existing track as part of government scaling back October 24, 2021 As part of the UK Government’s scaling back on the HS2 project, high-speed trains will run on existing tracks between Yorkshire and the Midlands, the Independent reported exclusively. In addition to a station in Leeds, the government is said to build only a new line to connect the city to South Yorkshire, leaving high-speed trains [...]
Budget: Chancellor admits transport investments will get £1.5bn of new money October 24, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has admitted that out of the £7bn pledged for transport investments, only £1.5bn has not yet been allocated, the Independent reported. Speaking this morning on Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Sunak said the government “topped that up by £1.5bn” when asked about the actual amount of funding that will come from new money. [...]
Transport, research and skills: £20bn of investments announced ahead of Budget October 24, 2021 When Rishi Sunak delivers his second Budget in a year this Wednesday, there may not be many surprises left after investments totalling more than £20bn were announced over the weekend. The Chancellor will head to the Commons with a focus on levelling up transport links outside London, research and development in health, and a “skills [...]
Sunak set to hike long-haul flight costs through air passenger duty Budget ‘overhaul’ October 23, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is plotting an air passenger duty hike for flights to long-haul destinations like Australia, Japan and South Africa in his Autumn Budget next week, as a penalty for their environmental damage. Passengers flying to such destinations can expect to pay more after the Chancellor has laid out his plans next week for [...]
Sunak to use September figures for autumn Budget October 16, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has asked the UK Office for Budget Responsibility to close its pre-policy measure forecast at the end of September. “Our pre-policy measures forecast was closed earlier than usual in response to a request from the Chancellor for more time to complete the Spending Review as well as the Budget (as was the [...]
Sunak eyes budget delay to next year July 16, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak could delay the budget until next year to allow him to assess more timely data on the economic impact of ending business support schemes. The news was first reported by The Guardian, which said officials have reportedly told Sunak waiting until the end of spring 2022 may provide him with more time [...]
Government leaking Covid economic policy erodes public trust, think tank warns April 23, 2021 Treasury’s leaking of Covid-19 recovery policies to some media outlets weeks in advance, while keeping tight lipped on important details, risks eroding public trust, a leading economic think tank has warned. A new report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the current method has led to serious fiscal failures and [...]