How will the Chancellor's spring statement affect me? How his announcements will hit your bills - The Evesham Observer

How will the Chancellor's spring statement affect me? How his announcements will hit your bills

Evesham Editorial 23rd Mar, 2022   0

COUNTY motorists will see a five-pence fall in the price of petrol and diesel following the Chancellor’s Spring Statement.

Rishi Sunak sought to ease pressure at the pumps with a cut from this evening (Wednesday) for the next 12 months which the Treasury said would save a one-car family £100, van drivers £200 and HGV drivers £1,500 this year.

Motoring group, the RAC, says cutting fuel duty by five pence will take £3.30 off the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car.

The cost of filling up has rocketed in recent weeks owing to Russia’s war in Ukraine, rising inflation and the looming cost of living increases




While the Chancellor retained the controversial rise in National Insurance contributions, he has raised the point at which working people pay National Insurance from £9,500 a year to £12,750 a year from July.

Mr Sunak said the move would mean workers would keep more of what they earn before they start paying personal taxes.


The cut, worth over £6 billion, will benefit almost 30 million working people with a typical employee saving over £330 in the year from July.

In what is expected to be the opening gambit ahead of the expected General Election in 2024, the basic rate of income tax will also be cut by one pence in the pound in 2024, when the OBR expect inflation to be back under control, with debt falling sustainably and the economy growing.

The cut is worth £5billion for workers, savers and pensioners and will be the first cut to the basic rate in 16 years.

The Chancellor also set out a series of measures to help businesses boost investment, innovation, and growth – including a £1,000 increase to Employment Allowance to benefit around half a million smaller firms

 “This statement puts billions back into the pockets of people across the UK and delivers the biggest net cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century,” he said. 

“Cutting taxes means people have immediate help with the rising cost of living, businesses have better conditions to invest and grow tomorrow, and people keep more of what they earn for years to come.”

In response, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The truth is people can no longer afford the Conservatives – working families can’t, pensioners can’t.”

“The Conservatives have become the party of low growth and the party of high tax.”

Meanwhile the Office of Budget Responsibilty (OBR) – the independent body which examines the UK’s public finances – said households are set to see the biggest drop in their spending power in 2022-23 since records began in 1956 because of inflation and higher taxes from April.

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