What might the Autumn Budget mean for Oxfordshire?
Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will make her first Budget announcement to the House of Commons later today
Today’s Autumn Budget announcement will reveal how much tax each of us will pay and how much the government sets out their spending on services such as the NHS, schools, transport and services.
It will be the first under the new Labour government, elected in July, and the first from a female Chancellor.
What is the Autumn Budget?
Every year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is now Rachel Reeves, will set out the government’s finances in a statement to Member’s of Parliament (MP’s) in the House of Commons.
The statement will outline the vast array of areas where the government's plan to raise or lower taxes and will also include decisions on spending.
Today’s budget will be Labour's first budget in 14 years as the Prime Minister says they will 'turn the page on Tory decline'.
Sir Kier Starmer has also insisted that the budget will have "working people" at its heart.
What can we expect to be announced in the budget?
In the lead-up to the election earlier this year, Labour set out their manifesto where they promised not to increase taxes on "working people”, such as income tax, VAT (value added tax), or National Insurance (NI).
Now, in the couple of weeks before today’s announcement there has been lots of speculation about what Rachel Reeves could announce to the commons, listed here:
• National Insurance contributions by employers
• Income tax and NI thresholds
• Inheritance Tax
• Capital gains tax (CGT)
• Pension taxation
• Alcohol duty
• Stamp duty
• Non-dom tax status
What can we expect for the NHS?
One of the big talking points leading up to the budget has been around the NHS, as we’ve reported earlier this year that GP’s and pharmacists are feeling overwhelmed and under pressure.
Whilst the Chancellor is expected to announce billions of pounds of funding into the health service, she warned that despite tax hikes and borrowing increases may not be enough to undo "14 years of damage".
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said although Ms Reeves is prioritising the NHS, a single Budget will not turn it around.
He said the injection of funding will help meet Labour's pledge to deliver two million extra NHS appointments a year.
An additional £1.8 billion has been allocated for elective appointments since July and the Treasury indicated "billions of pounds" will be invested in technology to help boost productivity across the health service.
When asked if the Budget will "fix the NHS", Ms Reeves said: "I don't think in one Budget you can undo 14 years of damage, but in this Budget we're going to provide the resource necessary to deliver on our manifesto commitment to 40,000 additional appointments every single week, to reduce the huge backlog and as well as the increase in the capital budget to take it to its highest level since 2010 to invest in the new scanners and the radiography equipment."
Nurses are also calling on the government to help attract more students to join the profession as they say it could put the NHS ‘in a very difficult situation in the future’, which we reported earlier this week.
Minimum wage to increase
One of the things that we know going into the announcement is that the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour in April next year after the Chancellor has confirmed a 6.7% increase in today’s Budget.
Rachel Reeves described the move as a "significant step" towards delivering on Labour's manifesto promise to introduce a "genuine living wage for working people".
The increase, recommended by the Low Pay Commission, will mean an extra £1,400 a year for a full-time worker earning the main minimum wage rate, known as the national living wage, from April 2025.
But it still falls short of the £12.60 per hour UK living wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation.
The Chancellor also announced that the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 would rise to £10 an hour, which is an increase of £1.40 and the highest rise on record.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, one of the key supporters of Labour's Employment Rights Bill, said: "A proper day's work deserves a proper day's pay.
"Our changes will see a pay boost that will help millions of lower earners to cover the essentials as well as providing the biggest increase for 18-20-year-olds on record."
The minimum wage for apprentices and those aged 16-17 will also increase by 18%, reaching £7.55 an hour, meaning a total of 3.5 million workers are expected to receive pay rises in the next fiscal year, as a result.
More to follow throughout the day
We will be bringing you more on Rachel Reeves Autumn budget throughout today on our news bulletins, where you can listen on Greatest Hits Radio Oxfordshire & Hits Radio Oxfordshire.