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The Chancellor will deliver his speech at 12:30 p.m. On Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt is expected to unveil key changes to child care and pension benefits in his highly anticipated budget. The Chancellor is reportedly considering raising the £40,000 limit on annual tax-free pension contributions, as well as raising the retirement age to 68.
Efforts to encourage those over 50, the long-term sick and disabled, and claimants for benefits to return to the workplace are likely to be a key part of Hunt's plans.
The budget is intended to silence his critics within the Conservative Party. Hunt is under pressure from supporters of ousted Prime Minister Liz Truss, who backed his focus on growth to revive the economy.
The budget follows last November's Autumn Declaration, in which the Chancellor raised taxes as he and Rishi Sunak sought to restore the UK's financial credibility after Liz Truss's short-lived tenure.
This time, the Chancellor is expected to focus on measures that will put various cohorts back to work as part of a broader campaign to stimulate growth.
This follows the release of new figures from the Office for National Statistics showing no change in UK unemployment in the three months to January.
Jeremy Hunt will present a "growth budget" to support the health service, students and retirees as he seeks to silence critics in his own party.
The Chancellor will say his measures go beyond helping Britain out of recession.
Instead, he will promise “long-term, sustainable, healthy growth that pays for our NHS and schools, finds good jobs for young people, provides a safety net for the elderly, while making our country one of the most successful in the world". world. ”.
Kate Devlin has more.
Chancellor pledges to make UK a science and technology 'superpower'
Conservative MPs have been pushing for tax cuts, although Jeremy Hunt so far appears to be resisting those calls, particularly on the issue of the planned corporate tax increase.
The business tax will rise from 19% to 25% in April, in line with plans agreed during Boris Johnson's tenure as prime minister and Rishi Sunak's tenure as chancellor.
All eyes will be on the chancellor to see if he offers any corporate tax relief initiatives when he ascends to the House of Commons on Wednesday. He has already made a pre-speech announcement reflecting his desire to boost the growth of the economy.
The head of the Treasury will announce 12 new investment zones to "boost" the growth of high-tech industries.
Officials said the scheme, backed by an investment of £80m over five years in each of the new high-growth areas, is designed to speed up research and development in the UK's "most infant industries".
The Chancellor will release his budget today as the country grapples with a cost of living crisis and a stagnant economy.
Jeremy Hunt's budget package follows last November's Autumn Declaration, in which the chancellor raised taxes as he and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sought to restore the UK's financial credibility after Liz Truss' brief tenure.
With the UK having narrowly avoided a recession since then and the latest economic figures giving cause for optimism, the chancellor is expected to focus his budget on growth measures as he seeks to revive the economy and encourage people to return to the market. employment after Covid-19. 19 pandemic.
This is what has already been reported and what we can probably expect in Mr. Hunt's first budget since he was appointed by Ms. Truss last year.
reports Patrick Daly.
Jeremy Hunt is due to give his first budget speech on Wednesday, but many details have already been released.
Jeremy Hunt will commit to addressing labor shortages and getting people back to work when he presents his budget.
The Chancellor is also expected to refer to the 'difficult decisions' made last November to stabilize markets, following short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss, as he outlines a plan he hopes can deliver 'sustainable' growth."
“Today we deliver the next part of our plan: a budget for growth,” he is expected to say. “It's not just about getting out of a recession.
"But long-term, sustainable, healthy growth that pays for our NHS and schools, finds good jobs for young people, provides a safety net for the elderly... while making our country one of the most prosperous in the world." .
Hunt promises a growth plan that will remove the "barriers that prevent companies from investing" while "addressing the labor shortages that prevent them from hiring" and "removing the barriers that prevent people from working."
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt is known to be considering raising the £40,000 limit on tax-free annual pension contributions, and could increase this to £60,000.
Mr. Hunt's team also looked at a possible increase in the lifetime allowance (LTA) of retirement savings, another adjustment that Mr. Hunt's team looked at. The tax-free lifetime amount could rise from £1.07m to £1.8m, according to reports.
Meanwhile, other reports suggest that the UK's statutory retirement age could rise to 68 sooner than expected.
Jeremy Hunt is ready to cancel the government's planned £500 cap increase for energy bill support, which was due to come into effect next month.
For the average household, this means bills will remain around £2,500, rather than rising to £3,000 as previously announced.
On fuel taxes, some Conservative MPs have urged the chancellor to act to support motorists facing a fuel tax increase of 12 pence per liter in March. A 23% tax increase is planned for this month, but foreign ministers have repeatedly froze the tax in the past. Hunt has so far not said what he would do.
Action is expected on prepaid meters, with the Chancellor ending the so-called 'prepaid bonus' from July, which the Treasury says will save more than four million households £45 per year on their energy bills. .
Struggling public pools will also get help with their rising energy bills, with a one-off £63m jackpot to be created. Most of the money will go to leisure centers to invest in moving towards renewable forms of energy.
Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday's show, the Chancellor was told he was running the economy 'like Jeremy is running the books'.
He replied that 'Jeremy the Chancellor will be in charge of public finance, I make no apology for that at all', adding: 'What you will also see on Wednesday is that we have a plan to solve the biggest problems we face. face as a country”.
Jeremy Hunt earlier promised to "go further to fight inflation" in Wednesday's budget.
"The labor market remains strong, but inflation is still too high," the Chancellor said this morning. “To help people's wages rise further, we must stick to our plan to cut inflation in half this year.
"Tomorrow in the budget, I will explain how we will go further to fight inflation, reduce debt and grow the economy, including helping more people go back to work."
Jobs across the UK have fallen for the eighth month in a row as companies hold on to hiring amid difficulties in the broader economy, official figures showed as Jeremy Hunt prepares to reveal his return-to-work budget ".
The Office for National Statistics revealed a drop from 51,000 jobs to 1.12 million in the three months to February, while the redundancy rate rose slightly, which it said "reflects uncertainty in industries as respondents continue to cite the economic pressures as a factor holding back recruitment.
Britain's unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7% in the three months to January, but falling job vacancies signaled cracks in the labor market as economic uncertainty weighed on businesses.
The figures also showed that 220,000 strike days were lost in January, compared to 822,000 in December, with schools hardest hit.
Jeremy Hunt has been urged to invest in public sector wages in the budget, as new research from the Trades Congress Union (TUC) has suggested that nearly two in five workers are actively considering leaving their profession, with a third citing low wages as a reason.
One in six public sector workers said they skip meals and one in 14 use a food bank, according to the TUC, which has warned that public services face a "mass exodus" of workers unless they are resolve the current wave of wage disputes.
Unison Union Assistant General Secretary Jon Richards said: “Decent public services are the foundation of any society, but they cannot exist without people running them. It doesn't take a genius to understand that compensation is key to retaining and attracting a motivated workforce.
“The government must invest in salaries in the budget so that schools, hospitals, town halls and residences can better compete with the salaries of the private sector. This would help increase staffing levels to the benefit of all.
PA wire
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