Chancellor John Healey has presented his first Budget, unveiling a range of policies that could affect household finances. A new Budget Calculator has been launched to help families, workers and pensioners see how the measures will impact them personally.
The Budget emphasised "breathing room" for households and businesses. The Government remains committed to the triple lock for now, with older state pensioners on the basic pension set to receive a £374 annual boost.
Key tax and savings changes
The starting threshold for small business rates relief will rise from £12,000 to £18,000. The Chancellor has also scrapped previous plans to cut the Cash ISA allowance to £12,000 from £20,000 for savers under 65.
Standing charges — a fixed daily fee covering the costs of connecting households to gas and electricity supplies in Great Britain — will be scrapped. At present, the average fee for gas is just under 30p a day, equivalent to around £108 a year.
Energy bills and fiscal rules
Under the current energy price cap, the dual energy bill for a typical household is currently £1,723 a year. Cornwall Insight has suggested the cap could increase by 16% on January 1.
Mr Healey is sticking to his predecessor Rachel Reeves's fiscal rules, meaning day-to-day spending needs to be financed by taxes rather than borrowing by 2029/30, and public debt as a share of the economy should fall in the same year.
Spending allocations and the calculator
An initial £285 million has been allocated as part of a plan to give mayors and regional leaders in England more money and power to invest in projects in their areas. In addition, more than £1 billion will be allocated for social and affordable housing, and a further £432 million will be committed to the rough sleeping programme to get people off the streets in England.
The Budget Calculator allows users to enter household details — whether they are single, a couple, a family with children, or a pensioner — along with earnings, savings and benefits, to calculate how the changes will affect their take-home pay and household income.
