Budget: cash for housing, transport and digital infrastructure
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Nov 24, 2016
Chancellor announces £23 billion National Productivity Investment Fund to be spent over five years.
But the money comes after reductions to the amount the Holyrood administration has to spend, which SNP ministers have branded "unacceptable".
He said new measures to clamp down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance will yield an extra £2bn in tax this parliament.
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"The reality, however, is that a fifth of United Kingdom workers aren't paid enough to live on".
Infrastructure investment plans were a "promise to deliver what had previously failed".
Mr Hammond said that the Barnett formula meant increases in funding for infrastructure for devolved nations, with £250m for Northern Ireland, £400m for Wales and £800m for Scotland. And Prime Minister Theresa May earlier this week trailed more investment into research and development in hopes of putting the United Kingdom ahead of the curve in science and technology.
Despite the reforms announced in today's Autumn Statement, the Universal Credit taper rate is still far higher than the original 55% figure originally planned. Autumn Statement 2016 - how will the changes affect you?
Salary sacrifice schemes were also targeted with those who use them - like company vehicle owners - paying the same tax as everyone else from April 2017.
But he said steps will be taken to "simplify the reporting process and reduce the administrative costs of petroleum revenue tax for oil and gas companies".
"Today we expected a change of direction after those six wasted years", he added.
Britain is now forecast to be running a deficit of £21.9 billion ($27.2 billion) by 2020, instead of a budget surplus, reflecting lower tax receipts as a result of weaker growth, Hammond said. Our productivity lags behind the United States and Germany by around 30 percentage points and the investment committed to infrastructure and innovation should help bring productivity to the forefront of business planning as we enter the new year.
"After careful discussion and detailed discussion with the Prime Minister I have decided that it will also be my last". Britain's public debt is about 1.64 trillion pounds, or about 82.6 percent of GDP.
The OBR has forecast borrowing of £68.2bn this year, falling to £59bn in 2017/18, steadily down until it reaches £17.2bn in 2021/22.
Also, Mr Hammond said that the controversial triple lock on pensions would stay until the end of this Parliament.
Hammond commits to raise personal tax allowance to £12,500 by the end of this Parliament.
As announced before the speech, the National Living Wage will rise from £7.20 to £7.50 from April 2017.
