Budget for 2021
This week, we have a summary of Rishi Sunaks newly announced spending Budget for 2021 which will cover the next few years, focusing on 6 different areas: Taxation and wages, Housing, Education, Air travel, alcohol and then general government spending.
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Taxation and Wages
First things first, national minimum is going up by 6.6% from £8.91 – £9.50. Whilst this doesn’t look TOO impressive, it does mean that every single minimum wage worker in the country (That’s on full time hours) will be earning just over an extra £1000 per year. This is paired with how Sunak aims to have minimum wage hit £10 by the next general election.
Also announced is the cancellation of the planned rise in fuel duty, due to the fact pump prices have been the highest they’ve been since 2013. Also retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England are getting a 50% business rates discount (capped at £110,00) between 2022 and 2023.
The Universal credit taper rate will be cut by 8% in the coming weeks, meaning the current rate goes from 63% – 55%, meaning claimants get to keep more of their payments.
There is also talks about the government considering increasing tax for the likes of Amazon, Asos and Ebay in order to create balance for how the high street has been hit massively by Covid-19, but this could mean prices go up online.
Government Spending
The government has pledged that they will raise funding by an around £4.6bn for the Scottish Government, £2.5bn for the Welsh and £1.6 for Norther Ireland, showing support for all areas of the UK. They will also back projects in a number of different areas across the country, including but not limited to Aberdeen, Ashton Under Lyne, Clwyd South and Bury.
They are also investing an extra £2.2bn into courts, prisons and probation services, as well as funding to clear any backlogs the courts are facing. All museums and galleries own tax reliefs will be extended for two more years, ending in March 2024.
A massive £7bn will be given to transport projects in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and South Yorkshire. The aim is to create a “European-Style” transport system which could resemble the bus network in London, hopefully reducing wait times for the bus or train for commuters (the wait can be insanely long).
The NHS is also getting £6bn of funding to help tackle backlogs, as well as core science funding is set to rise to £5.9bn by 2024-25.
Housing and Air Travel
Housing is getting quite a big share of the pot with £24bn being set aside, which includes £11.5bn to help build up to 180,000 more affordable homes. In address to high rises, a 4% levy will be placed on property development in order to create a fund that will help removed unsafe cladding. On top of this, £640m a year will be invested into addressing rough sleeping and homelessness issues.
Air travel is seeing a new lower rate of Air Passenger Duty from April 2023 for flights between airports in the UK. Airports will also see their financial support be extended for a further six months. Also in 2023, a new Air passenger duty will be introduced for flights that exceed 5,500 miles.
Education
Schools and colleges are getting a massive boost in terms of as school funding is set to return to 2010 levels which is the equivalent of £1500 increase to funding per pupil. Places of education will also receive a total of £2bn to help schools and colleges recover from the pandemic.
Between 2024 and 2025, schools will get an extra £4.7bn in terms of funding, as well a £300m to be spent on parenting programmes, as well as £170m to be invested in childcare. The government also wan to start a UK-wide programme that will help adults improve basic maths skills.
Alcohol
Alcohol duties are set to change significantly and it’s said to be the “most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years”. The first thing is the planned rise in tax on spirits, wines, ciders and beer is to be cancelled and the tax will drop from 15 to 6. Stronger alcohols such as red wines, fortified wines and high strength ciders will see a tiny raise in their rates. The same is to be said about lower strength drinks such as rose wine, fruit ciders, liqueurs and beers will also fall
That’s everything for this week, don’t forget you can find us on our socials (Linked below) where we post daily, as well as new episodes of Between the Spreadsheets every Thursday. Catch the full episode of Between the Spreadsheets over here!
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