It has been one week since the Autumn Budget announcement. Mr Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that the 2018 Budget was dedicated to “the strivers, the grafters and the carers who are the backbone of our communities and our economy.”
We have highlighted some of the key Autumn Budget 2018 figures below.
Housing
Mr Hammond made three key announcements regarding UK housing:
- £500 million has been allocated to the Housing Infrastructure Fund, “to unlock 650,000 homes”
- The government has partnered with nine housing associations across England to deliver 13,000 homes.
- The British Business Bank will grant guarantees up to £1 billion to support SME housebuilders
NHS
Back in June the Prime Minister pledged to increase healthcare funding by £20.5 billion a year after inflation by 2023-24. Mr Hammond backed this investment in the NHS during his speech, he said:
“The NHS is the number one priority of the British people; and as we approached the 70th anniversary of its foundation, they had a right to know the scale of our commitment to it.”
This £84 billion five-year deal for the NHS will go to the front line and to improvements in services.
Local Government
During the Autumn Budget announcement, Mr Hammond said that:
“Local government has made a significant contribution to repairing the public finances …
….and this Budget ensures local councils have more resources to deliver high quality public services.”
Councils in England are set to receive an extra £650 million of grant funding for 2018/19. This money will be spent on to ease the pressure on Adult Social Care for the elderly and those with disabilities.
The Chancellor wants local authorities to have greater control over the money they raise in the future. To do this, he has increased retention of business rates from 2020 and the removal of the Housing Revenue Account cap, which means councils can build more new homes.
Cyber Security and Defence
An additional £1 billion has been allocated to the UK defence budget for the remainder of 2018 and 2019.
This will boost Britain’s cyber and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
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