What Did the Chancellor Promise Britain in His Mini-Budget?
It was great to see the Chancellor deliver his Coronavirus mini-budget worth ￡12 billion, designed to stimulate the economy after the three-month lockdown period. His emergency budget came as the country faced unprecedented levels of government borrowing combined with fears about mass redundancies as soon as the furlough period ends in October. So what has the government proposed as a bid to get Britain PLC back up and running?
Firstly, ￡640 billion will be invested in British infrastructure - railways, roads and digital networks. This record-breaking sum will ensure that the country has the infrastructure that it needs to enable economic growth.
Funding will also be made to provide support to the NHS and other public services, with billions of pounds being made available for 50,000 new nurses and 50 million new appointments with GPs every year. This new fund will represent the biggest boost to public services funding since WW2, providing an extra ￡33.9 billion of funding every year by 2024.
Tax cuts will also be made by increasing the threshold on National Insurance and boosting National Living Wage - ensuring that millions of families have extra cash to spend as a result of tax cuts. At the same time, businesses will be supported through access to government-based loans, and the Comprehensive Spending Review has been launched - to be completed in July.
Key features of the mini-budget include:
- ￡5 billion of emergency response funding for the NHS.
- ￡40 million to support rapid research and vaccination development for Covid-19.
- ￡150 million to the IMF Relief fund.
- An extension to Statutory Sick Pay for everyone advised to isolate for a fortnight - plus their carers. SSP costs will be met by the government for small businesses with fewer than 250 employees for the full 14-day period.
- Further plans have also been confirmed for the self-employed, lower earners who take home less than ￡118 a week and other vulnerable groups, who will be helped with a new Hardship Fund worth ￡500 million.
- The business rates discount offered to retail businesses will be expanded across the hospitality and leisure sectors - with a total 100% discount offered for one year.
Infrastructure Investment
Over ￡27 billion will be directed to upgrade key roads across the UK, and a further ￡2.5 billion will be available to fix the country's potholes. A further ￡5 billion will be given towards digital infrastructure, ensuring that high-speed broadband is made accessible in the country's most isolated areas. Flood defences will also get a boost, with ￡5.2 billion - a record figure - being given to those areas at risk.
There will be an increase in tree planting across England by 600%, and ￡500 million put towards infrastructure to charge electric cars. A Plastic Packaging tax will also be proposed and go into consultation to help tackle the problems with single-use plastics, helping the country move towards its net-zero-carbon emission goal by - or before - 2050.