Hunt’s celebrating cutting borrowing and inflation (questionably), so that now, “like this Prime Minister, we are taking decisions for the long term” to end “big government, high spending, and high tax“. The OBR’s forecast, just published, has revised its growth projections down. Dampening Hunt’s claims that everything is rosy…

Here’s a full list of what was announced:

• Benefits increased by September figure of 6.7%.
• Increasing local housing allowance. Extra £800 for some households.
• Hand-rolling tobacco duty up an additional 10%.
• All alcohol duty frozen until 1^st August 2024.
• Pensions increased by 8.5% to £221.20/week.
• Meeting NATO commitment of 2% GDP.
• Public sector productivity has to increase by 0.5% a year.
• HMRC expansion to raise extra £5 billion.
• £7 million for educational organisations to tackle antisemitism.
• £3 million for an anti-racist security trust.
• £50 million funding into apprenticeships in key growth sectors.
• Local authorities can recover full costs for business planning applications if timelines are fast. Otherwise money paid back.
• £110 million for nutrient mitigation schemes.
• £32 million for “busting” planning backlog and building in Cambridge, London, and Leeds.
• £450 million for local authority housing fund.
• Government will consult in early 2024 on the impacts of the July 2023 High Court ruling in Uber Britannia Ltd v Sefton MBC.
• Consult on allowing any house can be converted into 2 flats provided the exterior remains unaffected.
• Lord Harrington report’s “headline” recommendations on civil service bloating will be followed.
• NatWest retail and share office to get SID investing again.
• Consult on giving savers the legal right to have employers pay into their existing pension pot if they want.
• £500 million over 2 years to fund AI innovation centres.
• Call for evidence to expand film and high-end TV tax credit.
• New R&D tax relief combining existing schemes and lowering rate for loss-making SMEs from 25% to 19%.
• £5 million to Imperial College to start a Fleming Centre.
• £4.5 billion support over 5 years to attract investment into strategic manufacturing centres, including aerospace, life sciences etc.
• Freeport & investment zones tax reliefs extended from 5 to 10 years. Opportunity fund announced to encourage more investment.
• 3 new manufacturing investment zones announced in the Midlands.
• 2^nd investment zone in Wales.
• Funding for regeneration projects and small projects in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
• Any company bidding for large government contracts required to show evidence for invoice payment within 45 days, then 30 days.
• Business rate relief standard multiplier will rise in line with inflation, though small business multiplier freeze will continue for another year.
• 75% business rate discount for retail, hospitality, and leisure extended for another year.
• Self-employment taxation reform – Class 2 National Insurance abolished. Entitlement and credit access provided in full.
• Class 4 National Insurance cut from 9% to 8% from April.
• Full expensing for business investment made permanent.
• £1.3 billion spent on helping 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs.
• £1.3 billion extra help for unemployed.
• If after 18 months jobseekers haven’t got job – programme for mandatory job placement. After 6 months the benefits will be stopped if no job.
• National living wage and national minimum wage hiked.
• Main 12% rate of employee National Insurance for income between £12,570 and £50,270 cut by 2% to 10%. Coming in from 6^th January via legislation.

No sign of an income tax or inheritance tax cuts. Hunt reckons business investment will rise by £20 billion from these measures. The OBR points out the changes “reduce the tax burden by 0.7% of GDP, but it still rises in every year to a post war high of 37.7% of GDP by 2028-29.”  Apart from full expensing, these are tweaks – Doesn’t quite pass muster as an “Autumn Statement for growth”…