A list of announcements made today by the chancellor in his 鈥榖udget for growth鈥�

 

Jeremy Hunt today announced a package of measures in the autumn statement which he said would increase business investment by 拢20bn a year over the next decade.

The chancellor announced 110 measures, including large tax cuts, changes to benefits, measures to boost housing supply and policies aimed at improving skills and research and development.

Hunt described his announcements as an 鈥渁utumn statement for growth鈥�.

He said he wanted to close the 鈥減roductivity鈥� gap between the UK and countries such as the US, Germany and France, which invest more.

He said: 鈥淭he 110 measures I take today help close that gap by boosting business investment by 拢20bn a year. They do not involve borrowing more and ramping up debt as some advocate. Instead they unlock investment with supply-side reforms.

Autumn Statement 2023 

Hunt slashes taxes as OBR sharply downgrades growth forecast

Hunt announces 拢110m nutrient mitigation fund to 鈥榰nlock 40,000 homes

Government promises planning reforms to speed up decision-making 

Autumn statement 2023: Key measures at a glance

Autumn statement 2023: Industry reacts

Developers to be offered 鈥榩remium planning service鈥� to speed up council decisions

However, the Office for Budget Reponsbility revised down its estimate of the medium-term potential growth rate of the economy from 1.8% to 1.6% as a result.

It said this was due to a weaker forecast for average hours per worker due to demographic shifts along with a weaker short-term outlook for productivity growth.

The key measures are summarised below: 

 Key autumn statement measures

  • 拢110m to deliver high-quality nutrient mitigation schemes to unlock 40,000 new homes.
  • Pledge to ensure over time that 鈥済rowth in public spending is lower than the growth in the economy鈥�.
  • 拢50m over two years to pilot ways to increase the number of apprentices in 鈥渆ngineering and other key growth sectors鈥�. 
  • Allow local authorities to recover the full cost of major business planning applications in return for being required to meet 鈥渇aster timleines鈥�.
  • 拢32m new homes to 鈥渂ust the planning backlog鈥�
  • Funding to develop 鈥渉ousing quarters鈥� in Cambridge, London and Leeds.
  • 拢450m to the local authority housing fund to deliver 2,400 new homes.
  • A new permitted development right to allow any house to be converted into two flats.
  • Increase universal credit and other benefits from next April by 6.7% in line with September鈥檚 inflation rate.
  • Increase Local Housing Allowance rate to the 30% percentile of local market rents, helping 1.6m households average 拢800 from next year.
  • Measures to cut grid access delays by 90% and offer up to 拢10,000 off electricity bills over 10 years for those living closest to transmission infrastructure.
  • 拢500m over the next two years to fund innovation centres to make the UK an 鈥淎I powerhouse鈥�. 
  • Creating a new, simplified research and development tax relief, as well as lowering the threshold for R&D relief for SMEs.
  • 拢520m for life sciences.
  • 拢960m for clean energy through the green industries growth accelerator, focused on offshore wind, electricity networks, nuclear and hybrid.
  • Financial incentives for investment zones and tax relief for freeports from five years to 10 years.
  • Three further investment zones focused on advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands, East Midlands and Greater Manchester and a second investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire in Wales.
  • Publish devolution deals in four areas, including Hull and East Yorkshire.
  •  拢50m for 鈥渉igh quality regeneration projects鈥�. From April 2024, any company bidding for large government contracts should demonstrate they pay their invoices within an average of 55 days to be reduced to 30 days.
  • Reform taxes for the self-employed including scrapping class 2 national insurance. 
  • 拢11bn a year to make 鈥渇ull expensing鈥� permanent 鈥� the 鈥渓argest business tax cut in modern British history鈥�. 
  • Mandatory work programme for jobseekers who have not found a job after 18 months. If people choose not to engage, they will lose benefits after six months.
  • Increase in the living wage by 9.8% to 拢11.44.
  • Cut main rate of national insurance by two percentage points to 10% from 6 January. 

Topics