One year ago, we promised the British people we would do whatever it takes to provide security and stability. We are delivering on that promise: over this year and next, we are providing £407 billion of support for families, jobs, and businesses, more than almost any other country in the world.
Today’s Budget protects the jobs and livelihoods of the British people with a three-part plan:
- Supporting people and businesses through this moment of crisis.
- Beginning to fix the public finances with a fair and honest plan about how to do so.
- Building our future economy.
As the IMF, Bank of England and OBR have all confirmed: our plan is working. As a result of our interventions, unemployment is now estimated to peak at far lower levels than previously expected, and our economy is now forecast to recover faster than previously thought.
As part of the Government’s commitments to fund the nation’s priorities, the Budget confirmed:
• An extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) until the end of September, ensuring it continues to support employers as they begin to reopen. Two further grants will also be available to self-employed people –and the newly self-employed will also be eligible for both grants.
• A continuation of the temporary Universal Credit uplift for a further six months. The Budget also confirms new support for providing young people with new skills: including doubling the incentive payment to SMEs to take on apprentices of any age to £3,000, and£126 million to triple the number of traineeships next year.
• New Recovery Loans and a new Restart grant of up to £18,000 to help businesses as they reopen. Support for the sports, arts and culture sectors will also be increased by a further £700 million as they begin to reopen.
• Extending the business rates holiday, VAT cut and stamp duty holiday. There will also be a new mortgage guarantee scheme from April which backs 95 per cent mortgages –helping those with smaller deposits.
• Opening up the new Levelling Up Fund for its first round of bids, worth £4.8 billion across the United Kingdom. The Budget also announces 45new Town Deals to help spread opportunity across the country.
• Announcing the locations of eight freeports in England, which will encourage free trade and bring investment to all regions of the country through lower taxes and cheaper customs
• Launching the first ever UK Infrastructure Bank –located in Leeds –to invest in public and private projects to drive green growth and create green jobs.
• A new Help to Grow scheme to boost productivity of small businesses, to ensure they are embracing the latest technology and management training.
• Being honest with the British people about the need to fix the public finances. We are standing by our manifesto pledge not to increase Income Tax, NICs or VAT and we are freezing alcohol duty, and fuel duty for the 11thyear in a row. However, to fix the public finances, corporation tax on large company profits will increase to 25 per cent in 2023. This will be tapered and 70 per cent of businesses will be completely unaffected.
• We will support business investment through an unprecedented ‘Super Deduction’. Even with the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7, we must do even more to encourage businesses to invest now and unlock their cash reserves. For the next two years, when businesses invest, they can reduce their tax bill by 130 per cent of the cost of that investment. The OBR have said this will lift business investment by 9 per cent and lift us from 30thin the OECD’s world rankings for business investment to 1st. And for the two-year period this is in place, this will be the biggest business tax cut in modern British history –worth £25billion.
• The Budget will strengthen all four parts of the United Kingdom, with bespoke schemes for each nation confirmed additional funding for Scotland (£1.2billion), Wales (£740 million), and Northern Ireland (£410 million).
