Autumn Statement and IPT

The Chancellor delivered his Autumn Statement today and confirmed that there will be a rise in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) of 2%. This follows on from an 0.5% increase in the 2016 Budget, and has seen IPT double from 6% in the last 18 months.

Investment (affects general business community, industry and public sector)

The chancellor announced that a total of £23bn would be spent on innovation and infrastructure over five years

• Government will meet commitments to protect budgets for key public services, defence, overseas aid and the pension “triple lock” until the end of this Parliament
• £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund to help provide 100,000 new homes in high-demand areas
• £1.4bn to deliver 40,000 extra affordable homes
• For the oil and gas sector, the Carbon Price Support capped until 2020 and business rates reductions worth £6.7bn
• £1.1bn extra investment in English local transport networks
• £220m to reduce traffic pinch points
• £23bn to be spent on innovation and infrastructure over five years
• £2bn per year by 2020 for research and development funding
• £110m for East West Rail and commitment to deliver Oxford to Cambridge Expressway
• More than £1bn for digital infrastructure and 100% business rates relief on new fibre infrastructure
• £1.8bn from Local Growth Fund to English regions
• Rural Rate Relief to be increased to 100%, “giving small businesses a tax break worth up to £2,900”
• £7.6m for repairs to Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, said to be inspiration for Pemberley in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
• Doubling UK export funding capacity
• £400m into venture capital funds through the British Business Bank to unlock £1bn in finance for growing firms
• Funding for 2,500 more prison officers

Morag Livingston, Group Risk and Healthcare Manager at Secondsight has expressed concern that this increase in could lead to employers reducing their healthcare provisions for staff, stating:

“These increases will have an impact for many employers when it comes to their healthcare provision. And for some employers, the increasing cost of providing private medical insurance (PMI), dental cover and cash plans may even force them to stop offering some of these much sought-after benefits altogether.”

Read Morag’s comments in full on HR News.