Budget 2020 announcements: What you need to know

Budget 2020: What you need to know about the measures announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s in his first Budget.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Today we announced £12 billion for temporary, timely and targeted measures to provide security and stability for people and businesses
Measures outlined by the Chancellor can be found at this Factsheet

Public services

By the end of the Parliament, day to day spending on public services will be £100 billion higher in cash terms than it is today
The NHS Settlement provided the largest cash increase in public services since the Second World War – an additional £33.9 billion per year by 2024
This Budget commits more than £6 billion of new funding to support the NHS, including:
- to create 50m more GP surgery appointments
- ensure there are 50,000 more nurses
- fund wider commitments on hospital car parking and support for people with learning disabilities and autism
The Budget is investing over £100 million in 2020-21 to make progress on the 40 new hospital projects announced as part of the Health Infrastructure Plan and providing £683 million additional funding to the Department of Health and Social Care to protect the level of NHS operational capital investment
£1.5 billion will be invested to upgrade Further Education colleges
£120 million for up to eight new Institutes of Technology and £7m for a total of eleven maths schools, so students can access high quality STEM provision everywhere
£95 million for providers to buy up-to-date facilities and equipment to support delivery of T Levels, our new technical education qualification
£90 million per annum to fund arts activities for all secondary school pupils and £29 million to boost PE and competitive sport in primary schools

Infrastructure

The government is investing record amounts in Britain’s roads, railways, broadband, housing and research – over the next five years the public sector will invest more than half a trillion pounds (£640bn) and by the end of the Parliament net investment will be triple the average over the last forty years in real terms
£27 billion between now and 2025 to improve vital transport routes. New road projects include:
- A66 in the North East
- Lower Thames Crossing in the South East
- A303 Stonehenge in South West
£2.5 billion will be spent on fixing potholes
Eight elected Mayors will get long-term settlements for local transport worth £4.2 billion
£5 billion to help people access gigabit-capable broadband in the most difficult to reach areas of the UK.
Over £500 million to extend 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK
£12.2 billion to build more affordable homes.
Government research and development spending will rise to £22 billion by 24/25, the largest and fastest increase in R&D investment on record

Putting more money in the public’s pocket

Increasing the National Insurance Contribution thresholds from £8,632 to £9,500, saving a typical employee around £104 a year from April.
Fuel duty will be frozen for the tenth consecutive year
A freeze in duty rates for beer, cider and spirits
Tampon Tax – the 5% rate of VAT on women’s sanitary products – will be scrapped from 1 January 2021
The National Living Wage will increase from £8.21 to £8.72
Ambitious target for the NLW to reach two-thirds of median earnings and to be extended to workers aged 21 and over by 2024

Supporting business

Launching a fundamental review of business rates that will report in the autumn
A new pubs discount will be introduced to take £5,000 off the business rates bills of eligible pubs with a rateable value below £100,000.
The Employment Allowance for Employer National Insurance Contributions is increasing from £3,000 to £4,000. Over half a million businesses will benefit from this reduction to their costs of employment, with an average gain of £850 per year.
The Structures and Buildings Allowance for Corporation Tax will be increased from 2% to 3%, giving relief on an extra £100,000 next year if you’re buying a building worth £10 million.
£28m package and up to 10,000 Start-Up Loans to support entrepreneurs and businesses to start

Green priorities and protecting the planet for the future

Flood defence investment of a record £5.2 billion over six years will better protect 336,000 properties
£39 million in the Environment Agency’s network of water supply and water navigation assets
£500 million to support the rollout of super-fast electric vehicle charging network
£533 million to extend Plug-in Grant schemes for ultra-low emission vehicles to 2023.
We will establish Carbon Capture and Storage in two sites to capture CO2 emissions before they are released into the atmosphere.
Launching a new £100m scheme to help households and small businesses invest in low carbon heating systems, and consulting on introducing a Green Gas Levy to increase biomethane production for the gas grid
A Green Heat Networks scheme to encourage new and existing heat networks to adopt low carbon heat sources, backed by £270 million funding.
£640m Nature for Climate Fund to plant more than 40 million trees and restore 35,000 hectares of peatland in England
Up to £25m to create the Nature Recovery Network in England
Tripling the Darwin Plus programme to £10 million a year, protecting unique wildlife in the UK Overseas Territories
£300m additional funding to improve air quality
£9.2 million funding package to introduce smart waste tracking and schemes to tackle fly-tipping more effectively
Ensuring the tax system incentivises users of polluting fuels like diesel to improve their energy efficiency by ensuring more businesses pay the standard rate of diesel, instead of the lower ‘red diesel’ rate

Supporting those in need

Changes to Universal Credit, including allowing claimants to retain more of their benefits each month by increasing the repayment period for advances and reducing the level of debt that can be collected from awards
£400 million will go to tackle rough sleeping
There will be a new pay and leave entitlement for parents of babies who spend extended time in neonatal care
There will build 200,000 new affordable homes with a 12.2 billion investment – the largest ever in affordable housing
An £8 million fund for football facilities for those in deprived areas
Hospital car parking fees for selected groups including NHS staff on night shift, disabled and terminally ill patients.
£200 million will be allocated to communities affected by flooding recover faster

Regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The Treasury is establishing a presence in Wales and Northern Ireland, in addition to its existing presence in Scotland.
As a result of the budget the Scottish Government will benefit from a £640m funding boost, the Welsh Government a £360m funding boost and the Northern Ireland Executive a £210m funding boost
The West Yorkshire Devolution Deal, which will increase local growth and investment through the creation of a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) across West Yorkshire.
Legislation will be passed to ensure Welsh language broadcaster S4C are given the same tax status as the BBC and ITN
Scotland will benefit from a support package for the Whisky industry, including a freeze on spirits duty.
£162 million for City and Growth Deals in Northern Ireland, £55 million Mid Wales Growth Deal and £25 million for the Argyll & Bute Growth Deal
The Shared Rural Network will ensure 84% of the country will have 4G coverage from all four mobile networks, up from 66% now – with 95% having coverage from at least one operator.
Up to £500,000 funding to Bradford to explore the regeneration opportunities of potential NPR services
Additional investment will be made in growth hubs in all regions
A government economic decision-making hub will be created in the North of England
£13m to expand the British Library’s network of Business and Intellectual Property Centres to 21 cities and 18 surrounding local library networks across the UK, including London