Budget 2017: House of Commons Rep Coverage

UKParliament
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edited 8 March 2017 at 9:30AM in Budgeting & bank accounts
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Hi Everyone,

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will deliver the Spring Budget 2017 on Wednesday 8 March at 12.30pm.

This will be followed by Budget debates in the Commons for 3 days on Thursday 9, Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 March.

The debates are an opportunity for the House of Commons to scrutinise the Budget statement.

This will be the last Spring Budget statement. In the 2016 Autumn Statement it was announced that, following the 2017 Spring Budget, Budgets will be delivered in the Autumn rather than in March or April of each year.

Stay up to date

We’ll be posting regular updates for you, including links to live video coverage, transcripts of the Budget Statement and debates, background information from the House of Commons Library, and Budget facts. 

The content we will be sharing will be politically neutral and impartial.

Share your views

We want to hear your expectations of what might be in the Budget Speech as well as thoughts on it once it has been delivered. What parts of it will have the biggest impact for you?

Watch the Budget

Watch the Budget live on Wednesday 8 March from 12.30pm on Parliament TV.
Official Organisation Representative
I’m the official organisation rep for the House of Commons. I do not work for or represent the government. I am politically impartial and cannot comment on government policy. Find out more in DOT's Mission Statement.

MSE has given permission for me to post letting you know about relevant and useful info. You can see my name on the organisations with permission to post list. If you believe I've broken the Forum Rules please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. This does NOT imply any form of approval of my organisation by MSE

Comments

  • UKParliament
    UKParliament Posts: 749
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    The Budget, or Financial Statement, is a statement made to the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    The Budget statement includes:
    • a review of how the UK economy is performing
    • forecasts of how the UK economy will perform in the future by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
    • details of any changes to taxation.

    The Chancellor's decisions usually remain secret until the speech. This is, mainly, to prevent anyone profiting from having advance knowledge of the government's plans.



    What happens in Parliament?

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers the Budget statement to Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.

    Provisional collection of taxes


    Some measures, such as any changes to the rates of duty on alcohol and tobacco, come into effect on Budget day or soon after.

    The power to make these changes on an interim basis, before the Finance Bill is passed, comes from the House of Commons approving a motion for the provisional collection of these taxes.

    Debates

    Traditionally the Leader of the Opposition, currently Jeremy Corbyn MP, replies to the Budget Speech rather than the Shadow Chancellor.

    The Budget is usually followed by three days of debate on the Budget Resolutions, these are the tax measures announced in the Budget. Each day of debate covers a different policy area such as health, education and defence. The Shadow Chancellor makes his response the day after the Budget statement during the Budget debates.

    Budget Resolutions can come into effect immediately if the House of Commons agrees to them at the end of the three days of debate but they require the Finance Bill to give them permanent legal effect.

    The Finance Bill

    A new Finance Bill is presented to Parliament each year. It enacts the proposals for taxation made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in their Budget statement and brings them into law.

    Once the House of Commons has agreed the Budget Resolutions, the Finance Bill starts its passage through Parliament in the same way as any other Bill.
    C6T4PGiWcAAtk9z.jpg

    Scrutiny

    Following each Budget statement the Commons Treasury Select Committee conducts an inquiry into the Government's proposals, gathering evidence from expert witnesses and publishing a report with its conclusions and recommendations.

    The Government then produces a report in response to the Committee's findings.

    The House of Lords Economic Affairs Sub-Committee examines selected aspects of the Finance Bill, including tax administration, clarification and simplification.

    Find out more about the Budget on Parliament's website.
    Official Organisation Representative
    I’m the official organisation rep for the House of Commons. I do not work for or represent the government. I am politically impartial and cannot comment on government policy. Find out more in DOT's Mission Statement.

    MSE has given permission for me to post letting you know about relevant and useful info. You can see my name on the organisations with permission to post list. If you believe I've broken the Forum Rules please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. This does NOT imply any form of approval of my organisation by MSE
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103
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    edited 7 March 2017 at 6:22PM
    The content we will be sharing will be politically neutral and impartial.
    While I'm confident that you will act in a politically neutral and impartial way, it seems very unlikely that the Budget speech and Opposition rebuttal or the Budget documents themselves that you will be sharing will be either of those things. Perhaps it might be sensible to make a claim that better distinguishes between your own content and that which you will be linking to?
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103
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    edited 7 March 2017 at 10:03PM
    We want to hear your expectations of what might be in the Budget Speech as well as thoughts on it once it has been delivered. What parts of it will have the biggest impact for you?
    In his 2016 Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced a consultation on the subject of reducing the pension contribution Money Purchase Annual Allowance from £10,000 to £4,000 per tax year from 6th April 2017. The Consultation says that the new level will be announced in Budget 2017. The MPAA caps the level of defined contribution pension contributions if taxable money is flexibly taken out of a pension other than by using the small pot rule.*

    It's routine in my posts here for me to have to mention this possible limit, which can greatly affect planning in the years just before full retirement. I'm also concerned about the effect of the change on those who have already taken such money, knowing that the higher limit would not adversely affect them but who might then suffer under a lower limit if it is applied to them based on actions before the change is made.

    The prospective change will have the greatest effect on those near to retirement who are of lower incomes, since the £10,000 limit was already a sufficient disincentive for those on average and higher income, who also often have the means just to delay taking the taxable income while still receiving the benefit of their pension contributions up to the £40,000 Annual Allowance. In effect the measure would selectively reduce the available pension tax relief for those on lower incomes.

    Since the MPAA applies to the defined contribution - money purchase - schemes normally used in the private sector and not to the defined benefit schemes normally used in the public sector, the measure further increases the tax disparity between public and private sectors by allowing higher increases of up to £36,000 from £30,000 (reduced by the MPAA) plus available carry forward in the annual public sector pension benefit value on top of the MPAA while decreasing them from £10,000 to £4,000 in the private sector.

    * The small pot rule allows a person to take the whole value of a pension pot worth up to £10,000 three times per lifetime without triggering the MPAA. The three times a lifetime limit doesn't apply to occupational schemes.
  • UKParliament
    UKParliament Posts: 749
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    The Chancellor will deliver the Spring Budget statement today at 12.30pm.

    The House of Commons Library produces briefing papers to inform MPs and their staff of key issues. The papers contain factual information and a range of opinions on each subject, and aim to be politically impartial.

    Here are some of the main points from the Commons Library Spring Budget 2017 Paper.

    Economic situation

    Growth in the UK economy during the second half of 2016 continued unaffected by the EU referendum result. In 2016 as a whole, GDP growth was 1.8%.

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    Consumers’ appetite to spend – the bedrock of recent economic growth – will be tested by the increase in inflation currently underway, which is anticipated to continue. This is mostly the result of the fall in the pound since the EU referendum, causing import prices to rise.

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    Rising inflation is forecast to reach around 3% later this year, which will eat into consumers’ purchasing power. This is the main reason GDP growth is forecast to slow to 1.4% in both 2017 and 2018 (based on the latest average forecast of economists).

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    Without unexpectedly higher income growth, an acceleration in household borrowing and/or reductions in savings rates, overall economic growth will need to come from elsewhere to prevent a sharper slowdown. It is unlikely to come from investment, which is forecast to remain weak, and government spending is not likely to provide any meaningful boost to GDP. Instead, the hope – and expectation – is that the fall in the pound will boost the performance of UK exporters, thereby contributing to growth in 2017 and 2018.

    Public finances

    In 2015/16 the government had to borrow £72 billion to make up the difference between its spending and its income from taxes and other revenues. Since its 2009/10 peak the UK’s borrowing, often referred to as the deficit, has halved. Despite the improvement, borrowing remains above the levels seen before the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The Office for Budget Responsibility – the UK’s fiscal watchdog – forecast in November that borrowing will fall to £22 billion by the end of this Parliament.

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    At over 80% of GDP, public sector net debt – largely the stock of borrowing arising from past deficits – remains relatively high by recent and international standards. The OBR forecast that the debt-to-GDP ratio will begin falling between 2017/18 and 2018/19.

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    Business rates revaluation

    The next revaluation of the business rates paid on commercial properties will come into effect on 1 April 2017. The revaluation will see some businesses pay more rates and some pay less. However, many businesses and sectors have stated that the increases they face will have a damaging effect on their finances. The Government is expected to announce further support to those businesses facing the steepest increases in the Spring Budget.

    NHS and adult social care spending pressures

    Both the NHS and adult social care face significant financial challenges. Costs are rising, the population is growing and ageing, and needs are becoming more complex.

    Although health spending has been protected relative to other public services, there are concerns that increasing demand and costs threaten the financial stability and sustainability of the NHS.

    Adult social care hasn’t received similar spending protection, and local government – who fund social care – have seen their funding reduced. The Government has taken some action to address the funding pressures. Some stakeholders have questioned whether the action taken is sufficient.

    Read the full paper: Spring Budget 2017: Background briefing
    Official Organisation Representative
    I’m the official organisation rep for the House of Commons. I do not work for or represent the government. I am politically impartial and cannot comment on government policy. Find out more in DOT's Mission Statement.

    MSE has given permission for me to post letting you know about relevant and useful info. You can see my name on the organisations with permission to post list. If you believe I've broken the Forum Rules please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. This does NOT imply any form of approval of my organisation by MSE
  • UKParliament
    UKParliament Posts: 749
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    The Spring Budget 2017 documents have now been published on the Treasury's website.

    You can watch the Chancellor deliver the Spring Budget statement from the start here.
    Official Organisation Representative
    I’m the official organisation rep for the House of Commons. I do not work for or represent the government. I am politically impartial and cannot comment on government policy. Find out more in DOT's Mission Statement.

    MSE has given permission for me to post letting you know about relevant and useful info. You can see my name on the organisations with permission to post list. If you believe I've broken the Forum Rules please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. This does NOT imply any form of approval of my organisation by MSE
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103
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    As expected the Money Purchase Annual Allowance was reduced from £10,000 a year to £4,000 a year and the amount allowed to go into defined benefit pensions after it is triggered increased from £30,000 to £36,000.
  • UKParliament
    UKParliament Posts: 749
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    MPs will continue their debate on the Budget resolutions today after consideration of Lords amendments to the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. You can watch online here.

    This afternoon, the Treasury Select Committee will hear evidence from the Office for Budget Responsibility. Watch the session here.
    Official Organisation Representative
    I’m the official organisation rep for the House of Commons. I do not work for or represent the government. I am politically impartial and cannot comment on government policy. Find out more in DOT's Mission Statement.

    MSE has given permission for me to post letting you know about relevant and useful info. You can see my name on the organisations with permission to post list. If you believe I've broken the Forum Rules please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. This does NOT imply any form of approval of my organisation by MSE
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