Wes Wilkes- NTWRK CEO

“Some £500m over the next two years to fund artificial intelligence innovation centres. Funding of £5m for Imperial College and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to set up Fleming Centre to work on health innovations.

The Chancellor has confirmed the Venture Capital Trust sunset clause has been extended to 2035. The VCT scheme provides crucial funding to British scale-up, high-potential businesses. This news will provide much-needed clarity both for those companies looking to grow and for investors considering investing this tax year.”

Rob Heath- Director Wealth

“My key highlight came from the plans to consult on a pension ‘pot for life’ designed to reduce the number of small, legacy workplace pots, and meaning employees can keep one pension through different jobs.

The ‘pot for life’ will give employees the right to choose the scheme into which their employer pays pension contributions, rather than being automatically enrolled into the scheme selected by their employer.”

Ash Desai- Wealth Mentor

“A key win here for taxpayers with a cut in National Insurance-meaning the average earner on a wage of £35,000 a year will save £450 per year. The self-employed will see a tax cut of £350 per year based on the average self-employed person earning £28,200 per year.”

Jack Burt – Trainee Wealth Mentor

“No doubt, pub owners and brewers will be raising a glass to the Chancellor after the alcohol duty freeze. Elsewhere, I would really highlight the commitment that Jeremy Hunt has shown, by honouring the Triple Lock State Pension, so that it increases by 8.5%, rather than the lower 7.8% figure that had been rumoured – their commitment to pensioners.”

Mandy Lewis – Brammer – paraplanner

“Good news that the 75% discount on business rates – the tax paid on non-domestic properties – of up to £110,000 for firms in retail, hospitality and leisure will be extended for another year”.

Personal Tax

• Hunt says he will cut the main 12% rate of employee national insurance contributions by two percentage points to 10%.
• This tax cut will be brought in from 6 January 2024
• Meaning a person earning £35,400 (average salary in UK) will save £450 per year.

Growth

• The chancellor says forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show the economy will grow by 0.6% this year and 0.7% next.
• It is now 1.8% larger than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the official figures, he says.
• GDP will then grow 1.4% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026 and 2% in 2027 and 1.7% in 2028.
• The wider picture of “slower growth from a higher starting point” means that compared with March, the OBR only improved its forecast for GDP growth in 2027 by 0.6%.
• Hunt confirmed the national living wage (NLW) will rise to £11.44 per hour. The move is expected to benefit 3 million ‘low-paid workers’ by £1,800 over the course of a year.
• Government borrowing is set to fall every year for the next five years in part due to the relative strength of the economy. Borrowing will be 91.6% of GDP next year, then 92.7% in the 2024/25 financial year.

Inflation

• Inflation is expected to fall to 2.8% by the end of 2024 according to the spending watchdog, down from 11.1% last year when Hunt and Sunak took office.
• The spending watchdog now expects inflation to stay “higher for longer” and that it will not drop to the Bank of England’s target of 2% until mid-2025. This is a year later than expected in March.
• The OBR says higher inflation will keep interest rates elevated, It expects the central bank’s key interest rate to stick at about 4% until 2028, rather than drop to 3%, as it predicted in the spring.
• Investment in AI and VCT extended to 2035.

Pensions

• The state pension will be increased by 8.5% in line with the triple lock.
• Consultation to establish a ‘Pot for life’ pension – this would give employees the right to nominate the pension scheme that their employer pays contributions to, which can then follow them as they move throughout their working life.

Business & Infrastructure

• The chancellor says forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show the economy will grow by 0.6% this year and 0.7% next.
• It is now 1.8% larger than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the official figures, he says.
• GDP will then grow 1.4% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026 and 2% in 2027 and 1.7% in 2028.
• The wider picture of “slower growth from a higher starting point” means that compared with March, the OBR only improved its forecast for GDP growth in 2027 by 0.6%.
• Hunt, confirmed the national living wage (NLW) will rise to £11.44 per hour. The move is expected to benefit 3 million ‘low-paid workers’ by £1,800 over the course of a year.
• Government borrowing is set to fall every year for the next five years in part due to the relative strength of the economy. Borrowing will be 91.6% of GDP next year, then 92.7% in the 2024/25 financial year.

Economy

• The chancellor says forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show the economy will grow by 0.6% this year and 0.7% next.
• It is now 1.8% larger than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the official figures, he says.
• GDP will then grow 1.4% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026 and 2% in 2027 and 1.7% in 2028.
• The wider picture of “slower growth from a higher starting point” means that compared with March, the OBR only improved its forecast for GDP growth in 2027 by 0.6%.
• Hunt, confirmed the national living wage (NLW) will rise to £11.44 per hour. The move is expected to benefit 3 million ‘low-paid workers’ by £1,800 over the course of a year.
• Government borrowing is set to fall every year for the next five years in part due to the relative strength of the economy. Borrowing will be 91.6% of GDP next year, then 92.7% in the 2024/25 financial year.

Innovation

• The chancellor says forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show the economy will grow by 0.6% this year and 0.7% next.
• It is now 1.8% larger than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the official figures, he says.
• GDP will then grow 1.4% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026 and 2% in 2027 and 1.7% in 2028.
• The wider picture of “slower growth from a higher starting point” means that compared with March, the OBR only improved its forecast for GDP growth in 2027 by 0.6%.
• Hunt, confirmed the national living wage (NLW) will rise to £11.44 per hour. The move is expected to benefit 3 million ‘low-paid workers’ by £1,800 over the course of a year.
• Government borrowing is set to fall every year for the next five years in part due to the relative strength of the economy. Borrowing will be 91.6% of GDP next year, then 92.7% in the 2024/25 financial year.

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