When is the Autumn Budget 2019? Recap of last year’s UK budget and what will be included this year
CHANCELLOR Sajid Javid was set to deliver the Budget on November 6.
However, after Parliament voted to delay Brexit and Boris Johnson called for a General Election, Javid decided to not deliver it.
When is the autumn Budget 2019?
Chancellor Sajid Javid was due to deliver the Budget on November 6, 2019.
However, he wrote in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee: "Parliament has voted for a delay to the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, so the Government is now calling for a General Election.
"I can therefore confirm that I have decided not to bring forward the Budget on the 6 November."
What was Sajid Javid expected to say in this year's Budget?
Mr Javid said the Budget was set to outline the government's "plan to shape the economy for the future".
He had promised it would trigger the start of the UK's infrastructure revolution.
The chancellor has previously pledged cash boosts to priorities such as schools, hospitals and the police.
He had also said he will introduce measures to simplify the tax system.
What was in last year's Budget?
Big benefits boost for Universal Credit claimants
Extra funding was made available for those claiming Universal Credit, with 2.4million households set to benefit.
The Work Allowance element of the new welfare scheme increased to £1,000 - allowing millions of people to earn £630 more before their benefits are slashed.
More help for first-time buyers
The government extended its flagship Help to Buy scheme for first-time buyers only - but it will be scrapped completely in 2023.
The programme gives cheap loans to those hoping to get on the housing ladder and is supposed to ensure they’re not put off by the cost of a deposit.
The government also introduced new regional price caps on the value of a property you can buy using a Help to Buy loan.
Former chancellor Phillip Hammond also announced that stamp duty will be scrapped for all first-time buyers with properties in shared ownership worth up to £500,000.
Lower earners got a pay rise
Britain's lowest paid workers received an inflation-busting 4.9 per cent pay rise in April 2019, when the National Living Wage was hiked to £8.21 an hour - up from £7.83.
Mr Hammond also doled out surprise income tax cuts worth hundreds of pounds to Britain’s 32million workers.
From April this year, no income tax had to be paid on the first £12,500 of annual wages, up from the previous threshold of £11,850.
Some relief for drivers
Fuel duty remained the same for the ninth year in a row after the Chancellor ditched a planned 2p-a-litre rise in a bid to ease the burden on motorists.
The tax on fuel currently stands at 57.95p per litre of petrol, diesel, biodiesel and bioethanol.
The freeze, which was announced in Philip Hammond's Budget, was a huge victory for The Sun’s long-running Keep It Down campaign — and for our readers.
A £420million fund was also confirmed for the Local Highway Authorities to spend on repairing potholes, bridges and other minor works.
Interest-free loans for hard up Brits
People struggling with serious debt given interest-free loans.
The Chancellor unveiled plans that will provide an alternative to high-cost credit that many people are currently being faced with.
This was a hard-earned victory for the Sun.
We had been campaigning to help protect millions of people stuck paying off high cost credit loans - where rates can be as high as 6,000 per cent - as part of our Stop The Credit Rip-Off Campaign.
The government also extended the six-week "breathing space" to protect borrowers from creditor action to 60 days - giving them more time to get their finances back on track.
Christmas bonus for beer and spirit drinkers - but bad news for wine lovers
Beer, cider and spirits did not go up in price as the now ex-chancellor confirmed a one-year tax freeze on them in the Budget.
The chancellor scrapped a planned tax hike in line with inflation, which would have seen prices rise by 3.4 per cent and added as much as 30p to the price of a bottle of spirits.
Although there was a freeze on the duty for beer, cider and spirits, wine duty rose by 3.4 per cent.
This adds 7p to a bottle of wine and 9p to a bottle of fizz.
Smokers pay more than ever
The cost of cigarettes soared to £10 a pack as the chancellor confirmed a hike in tobacco tax.
Tobacco duty rose by two per cent above September's inflation rate of 2.4 per cent, which adds roughly 24p, excluding inflation, to a pack of cigarettes.
High-street shops
In a bid to solve the housing crisis, empty high-street shops could be turned into homes, it was announced.
The Chancellor said he will consult on relaxing planning rules as he pours £675million of funding into the struggling high street.
This will not only increase the supply of housing, it will also help regenerate battered high streets as it would ensure that more empty storefronts could become family homes.
Pensions boost for public sector workers
Ex-chancellor Phillip Hammond set aside £5billion to boost the pensions pots of teachers, police and civil servants.
The windfall followed huge pressure from headteachers after schools were told that they would have to up pension contributions by more than 40 per cent from September next year.
Bigger tax bills for the self-employed
Hundreds of thousands of self-employed workers will face higher tax bills from 2020, under new plans revealed in the 2018 budget.
Mr Hammond announced that tighter tax rules for those working in the public sector will be extended to those working for private firms, such as IT workers and management consultants.
The new rules, which will come into effect in April 2020, will only apply to medium and large businesses.
Most read in money
Why isn’t it called the Autumn Statement any more?
The Autumn Statement was scrapped by Philip Hammond in 2016.
At the recommendation of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), there is now a Spring Statement instead, with the Budget presented later in the year.
Spring 2017 saw the last Budget to be held at that time of the year.
In 2018, a Spring Statement was given for the first time.
The government has said that changing the tax system once a year, rather than twice, will lead to greater financial stability.