Philip Hammond delivered his first Autumn Statement as Chancellor on 23 November 2016 and in facing the headwinds affecting the UK economy, has shown a pragmatic approach. Although the UK economy is set to be the fastest growing major economy in 2016, the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast growth to slow and inflation to rise over the next two years. Hammond’s response is intended to soften the blow by relaxing the pace of deficit reduction and increasing investment in initiatives designed to improve the nation’s productivity. The centrepiece of this new investment is the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF), which will provide £23 billion of additional spending in transport, digital communications, research and development (R&D) and housing.
To help finance the additional spending there are inevitably a number of increases to personal taxation and as with most budgets, the devil is in the detail.
To find out more and learn how it might affect you, please refer to our Autumn Statement flipbook.
If you are having trouble viewing the online flipbook you can download a PDF version by clicking here.
If you wish to read the full statement published by the Government, this can be viewed here.