Autumn Statement 2023: What will it mean for you?

National World - LocalTV

Jeremy Hunt has billions to play with, but where's he planning to spend it? Speculations from economists and political commentators about the autumn statement ranged from a national insurance cut and a raising of the income tax thresholds to slashing stamp duty and public service investment. Here's what's been announced.

Transcript

00:00 I now call the Chancellor to make the autumn statement.

00:02 Turn around.

00:04 I think what he's done is set a platform now

00:07 for us to turn the corner.

00:09 That from a responsible point of view,

00:11 it's done pretty much what we'd expected

00:14 and possibly a bit more.

00:15 The Chancellor has said he seeks to put the UK economy

00:18 back on track through the whole host of measures

00:21 announced in this year's autumn budget.

00:23 But what stood out from the statement?

00:25 Benefits will rise by 6.7% in line with inflation figures

00:29 from September.

00:30 The state pension will rise by 8.5% in line

00:33 with the normal measure of earnings

00:35 to £221 a week from April the 1st.

00:38 All alcohol duty has been frozen until August next year.

00:41 And there'll be £50 million for apprenticeships

00:44 in key growth sectors.

00:46 The Office for Budget Responsibility

00:48 say that the combined impact of these measures

00:51 will raise business investment, get more people into work,

00:55 reduce inflation next year, and increase GDP.

00:59 The autumn statement for 2023 comes at a vital time

01:03 for the UK, as Brits are both watching their wallets ahead

01:06 of the festive period, as well as

01:07 planning for the near future.

01:09 But political jargon aside, what do these announcements actually

01:12 mean for UK households?

01:15 Kevin Mountford is a personal finance expert

01:17 and shares his insights into what's been announced.

01:20 I think what we've seen is inflation coming down

01:23 at quite a rate, finally.

01:26 And obviously, the OBR, the Office for Budget Responsibility,

01:30 believes that it's going to come down further

01:34 by the end of next year.

01:35 And I think that means, then, it takes

01:37 the pressure off interest rates.

01:39 And whilst government borrowing has equally fallen,

01:42 which is a positive, it means that the cost of repaying

01:46 that debt is reduced significantly.

01:49 One of the major announcements that's

01:50 set to affect the largest number of people

01:52 is a lowering of national insurance from 12% down to 10%.

01:56 But what will that mean the next time you get your pay slip?

01:59 The 2% reduction will impact 27 million people because

02:03 of the band it's set.

02:05 And so for somebody on £25,000 a year,

02:09 it will save them £450 a year.

02:13 There's obviously an NHS surcharge coming in next year

02:16 that's already kind of baked into the plan.

02:19 But in terms of some tangible benefits,

02:22 then clearly that helps.

02:23 And finally, a focus on getting those out of work

02:26 back into employment to help prop up the economy

02:28 comes with a host of boosts to benefits.

02:32 We've got the national living wage rising by 9.8%

02:37 to £11.44 an hour.

02:39 And then obviously, in terms of universal credit,

02:42 that's going to increase next April by 6.7%.

02:46 So that's an average for 5 and 1/2 million households

02:51 next year of £470.

02:54 So what I'm saying is if we look at these things in isolation,

02:57 it might mean a few hundred pound.

02:59 If you're benefiting from two or three of these changes,

03:02 then that benefit compounds accordingly.

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