This afternoon the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made the Autumn Budget Statement in the House of Commons.  Please find below a summary of some of the points which may be most relevant to you.  (Apologies it’s a long email – there’s a lot to cover!)

National Living & Minimum Wage Increases

• The National Living Wage will increase by 6.7% to £12.21 an hour. This represents an increase of up to £1,400 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker. on the National Living Wage and is expected to benefit over 3 million low paid workers across the UK. 6.7% to £12.21 an hour.
  
• The Government is moving towards a single adult rate of the National Minimum Wage, phased in over time, with the rate for 18-20 year olds Increasing by 16.3% to £10.00 an hour

Taxes and National Insurance Contributions

• The Government is not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs) or VAT.
  
• The government will not extend the freeze to income tax and National Insurance contributions thresholds. From April 2028, these personal tax thresholds will be uprated in line with inflation.
  

Business Rates:

• The Government intends to introduce permanently lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with a rateable value (RV) under £500,000 from April 2026-27.
  
• They intend to fund this via a higher multiplier on properties with an RV of £500,000 and above, which includes the majority of large distribution warehouses including those used by online giants.
  
• They will provide support for retail, hospitality and leisure properties in the interim period leading up to the new permanent multiplier by providing 40% relief to RHL businesses on their business rates in 2025-26, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.
  
• The business rates small business multiplier (49.9p) will be frozen in 2025-26, protecting over a million properties from inflationary bill increases.
  
• The standard multiplier will be uprated by the September 2024 CPI rate to 55.5p
  
• The Government have published a Consultation Paper on Transforming Business Rates, which they say invites business and other stakeholders to a conversation about how the government can deliver a transformed system of Business Rates.  I will send out a separate email on this.
  

Corporation Tax:

• The government will cap the rate of Corporation Tax at 25%, the lowest in the G7, for the duration of the Parliament.
  

Increase to Employers National Insurance Contributions

• The government is increasing the rate of employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%
  
• They will reduce the per-employee threshold at which employers become liable to pay National Insurance (the Secondary Threshold) from 6 April 2025 from £9,100 to £5,000.
  
• For small businesses, the Employment Allowance, which gives employers with NICs bills of £100,000 or less a discount of £5,000 on their employer NICs bill, will be increased from £5,000 to £10,500 next year.
  
• The government will also expand the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit.
  
• Taken together, this means that 865,000 businesses will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of employers with NICs liabilities will pay the same or less next year.
  

Increase to Carers Allowance

• The weekly earnings limit for Carers will be increased to the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage per week.  This means a carer can now earn over £10,000 a year, whilst receiving Carers Allowance, so carers can start work or increase their working hours where they want to.
  

Fuel Duty

• The government will freeze fuel duty at current levels for one year
  
• The current temporary 5p cut will be extended for a further 12 months
  
• The planned increase in line with inflation for 2025-26 will be cancelled
  
• This represents a saving of £59 in 2025-26 for the average car driver
  

Capital Gains Tax for Businesses

• Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), and Investors’ Relief (IR) offer access to a lower rate of CGT for businesses.  The BADR and IR rates will rise to 14% from 6 April 2025, and will match the main lower rate of 18% from 6 April 2026.
  
• The rate for both BADR and IR will increase gradually, to give business owners time to adjust to the changes.
  

Air Passenger Duty

• To ensure Air Passenger Duty (APD) revenues remain sustainable, the government will adjust all APD rates in 2026-27, adding £2 per passenger for those flying economy to short-haul destinations, £12 for long-haul destinations, and relatively more for premium economy and business class passengers
  
• Higher rates for private jets will increase by 50% and the government is consulting on extending the higher rate to include more private jets.
  

Electric Vehicles (EVs)

• The government is maintaining EV incentives in the Company Car Tax regime and extending 100% First Year Allowances for zero emission cars and EV chargepoints for a further year.
  

Alcohol Duty

• The government will support pubs and the wider on-trade by cutting alcohol duty rates on draught products below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) by 1.7%, reducing it by 1 penny per average strength pint. Alcohol duty on non-draught products will increase in line with Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation from the same date.
  
• These measures will take effect from 1 February 2025. The current temporary wine easement will also end as planned on 1 February 2025
  

Tobacco & Vapes

• A new Vaping Products Duty will be introduced from 1 October 2026 at a flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml vaping liquid
  
• This will be accompanied by an equivalent further one-off increase in Tobacco Duty to maintain the financial incentive to switch from tobacco to vaping
  
• To reduce the gap with cigarette duty, the rate on hand-rolling tobacco will increase by a further 10% this year. These changes will take effect from 6pm on 30 October 2024 and will be included in Finance Bill 2024-25
  

Cost of Living Crisis:

• The government will provide £1 billion to extend both the Household Support Fund in England and Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales in 2025-26. This will be used by local authorities to help low income households facing hardship and financial crisis, including supporting them with the cost of essentials such as food, energy and water
  

Local roads & Transport

• The Government will provide a nearly 50% increase, on 2024-25, in funding for local roads maintenance, investing almost £1.6 billion to maintain and renew the nation’s roads, an increase of £500 million on 2024-25.1
  
• The government is extending the bus fare cap, which was due to end in December 2024. A new cap will run from January 2025 to December 2025 at the higher rate of £3. This will allow the government to develop a more sustainable model of government support for the bus sector that is better value for taxpayers and bus passengers.
  
• The Government will provide an additional £100 million investment in cycling and walking infrastructure in 2025-26, to support Local Authorities to install cycling infrastructure and upgrade pavements and paths.
  

Small Business Finance Support

• Over £1 billion will be available across 2024-25 and 2025-26 for the British Business Bank to enhance access to finance for small businesses, including over £250 million each year for small business loans programmes, including Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
  
• Over £200 million will be available for wider small business support including continued funding for practical support through Growth Hubs and Help to Grow Management.
  

Theatre Tax Relief, Orchestra Tax Relief and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief

• 45%/40% rates from 1 April 2025 – From 1 April 2025, the rates of Theatre Tax Relief, Orchestra Tax Relief and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief will be set at 40% for non-touring productions and 45% for touring productions and all orchestra productions. These rates apply UK-wide.
  
• This measure was announced at Spring Budget 2024 and has been legislated.
  

Other Budget Matters Announced:

• Phase 1 of Spending Review 2025
  
• Phase 1 of Spending Review 2025, which concludes alongside Autumn Budget 2024, provides significant additional investment to reset departmental budgets, and support public services.  This includes:
  
• Local Authority Funding
  
• The government will support local authority services through a real terms increase in core local government spending power of around 3.2%, including at least £600 million of new grant funding to support social care.  This is alongside an £86 million increase to the Disabled Facilities Grant to support 7,800 more adaptations to homes for those with social care needs to reduce hospitalisations and prolong independence.
  
• Continuing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund at a reduced level for a further year, providing £900 million; this transitional arrangement will allow local authorities to invest in local growth, in advance of wider funding reforms.
  
• Providing £233 million of additional spending in 2025-26 to prevent homelessness, taking total spending to £1 billion in 2025-26. This will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.
  
• The Government has confirmed funding for MHCLG’s core Levelling Up Fund projects – providing £1.0 billion in 2025-26 to revitalise high streets, town centres and communities. To ensure investment is focussed on the growth mission, the government is minded to cancel unfunded Levelling Up Culture and Capital Projects that were announced at Spring Budget 2024, but will consult with potential funding recipients before making a final decision.
  
• The government is minded to cease funding for the functions previously delivered by Local Enterprise Partnerships and the Business Board Network, and will consult on ending funding for pan-regional partnerships.
  
• The government will roll out new Local Growth Plans working with places to take advantage of their economic potential and foster clusters of well-paid jobs.
  

Crime and Justice:

• • The government will begin to repair the justice system by providing:
    
  • An additional £1.9 billion total departmental spending to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in 2025-26 – an average real terms increase of 5.6% each year from 2023-24 to 2025-26.
    
  • Total Home Office (HO) funding will increase from £20.3 billion in 2023-24 to £22.1 billion in 2025-26.
    
  • Continued investment to support frontline policing levels across the country and put us on track to start to deliver more neighbourhood police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSO).
    
  • £2.3 billion of investment in prison expansion over 2024-25 and 2025-26, ensuring thousands of new prison places open over the next two years.
    
  • A minimum £500 million additional investment across prisons and probation in 2025-26 to recruit thousands of new prison and probation staff, keeping prisons safe and managing offenders in the community.
    
  • £220 million investment in prison and probation service maintenance in 2024-25 and up to £300 million in 2025-26, keeping prisons safe and secure.
    
  • 106,500 Crown Court sitting days in 2024-25 to bring offenders to justice. MoJ will work closely with the senior judiciary to set court capacity in 2025-26 to continue bringing access to justice for victims.
    

Public Sector Pay

• • The government launched the 2025-26 Pay Review Body (PRB) process in September. This meant the 2025-26 PRB process started three months earlier in the year than for 2024-25. This is a step towards restoring confidence in the PRB process and ensuring public sector workers receive more timely pay awards.
    
  • The PRBs are expected to deliver their recommendations for 2025-26 pay awards in the spring.
    

• Phase 2 of Spending Review
  
• Phase 2 of Spending Review will focus on reforming the public sector:
  
• Local government and devolution
  
• The government will simplify the wider local funding landscape, reducing the number of grants and consolidating them into the Local Government Finance Settlement, as well as moving towards a multi-year settlement for local government so local authorities can plan more effectively..
  
• The upcoming English Devolution White Paper will set out more detail on the government’s devolution plans, including on working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas, with efficiency savings from council reorganisation helping to meet the needs of local people.
  

Homelessness: Phase 1 commits to additional funding for homelessness to help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. In Phase 2 the Treasury will work with MHCLG and others in the cross-government taskforce to address homelessness and rough sleeping.
Police: HM Treasury will work with the Home Office through Phase 2 to drive police efficiencies and improve overall police productivity in England, ending wasteful contracts and enabling officers to spend more time on the frontline tackling crime. This will form part of a wider police reform package to rebuild confidence in policing.
Prisons: To bring an end to the crisis in prisons, the government will examine tough alternatives to custody to make sure these sentences cut crime while making the best use of taxpayers’ money. Along with the prison building programme, the government will bring the criminal justice system onto a sustainable and affordable footing and ensure there is always the space in prison for the most dangerous offenders.

• Get Britain Working White Paper
  
• The government will shortly publish the Get Britain Working White Paper which will set out its £240 million investment to trail new ways of getting people back into work.
  
• The government will test new approaches and collect robust evidence on how to tackle the root causes of ill-health-related inactivity, support young people who are ‘not in education, employment, or training’ (NEET), and help people to develop their career
  
• Small Business Strategy
  
• The government will bring forward a Small Business Strategy Command Paper in 2025.
  
• This will set out the government’s vision for supporting small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co[1]operative economy, across key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets, making it easier to access finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
  

More detailed information including the full Budget document in a variety of formats can be found here: Autumn Budget 2024 – GOV.UK