The Autumn Budget and Review 2021 aims to strengthen the economy by supporting growth, employment, and public finances.
The official documents have been released and are over 200 pages long, so to save you some time, here are the highlights:
Economy
- Inflation is likely to rise to 4% over the next year
- By the start of 2022, the UK economy is forecast to return to pre-Covid levels
- The economy will rebound by 6.5% this year, and 6% in 2022
Spending
More money means more work for suppliers like you. While the money will not exclusively be used to create new business opportunities, it is likely that the resulting projects will soon be announced – and may provide leads for future work.
- £150bn increase to Government Department spending
- £4.8bn grant funding boost for councils
- £4.6bn funding boost for Scottish Government each year
- £2.5bn funding boost for Welsh Government each year
- £1.6bn funding boost for Northern Ireland Executive each year
- £7bn for transport projects in areas including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and South Yorkshire
Project Specific Investment
The following details what projects will receive funding, and this information can be used to conduct further research, start developing relationships with buyers and prepare for upcoming tendering opportunities.
- £1.7bn worth of grants from the £4.8bn ‘Levelling Up Fund’ have been allocated to 106 successful towns and cities
- £6bn of funding to help tackle NHS backlogs
- £850m for the restoration of museums and galleries
- £21bn to upgrade roads across the UK – including £2.6bn for local road upgrades and £5bn for road maintenance.
- £46bn on railways to improve journey times – details to be released in an upcoming Integrated Railway Plan.
- £22bn goal for research and development spending by 2026-27, two years later than initially planned.
- £24bn for housing, of which £11.5bn will be used for up to 180,000 affordable homes, the majority of which will be outside of London
- £6.9bn for train, tram, bus and cycle initiatives.
- £1.8bn to regenerate derelict land across the country, with £9m being given to councils to urban ‘pocket parks’.
- £5bn fund to remove unsafe cladding will be created from a 4% levy on property developers with profits over £25m.
- £640m a year will be used to address rough sleeping and homelessness
- £150 million will used to support small business growth and level up regions outside of London and the South East.
Business Specific Announcements
These announcements may have an impact on your business, so you should be aware of what is changing and when.
- Business rates will remain in place with no changes until a new fairer system is introduced in 2023, and will include green investment relief.
- 50% business rates discount for retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors – up to a maximum of £110,000.
- The planned increase in fuel duty has been cancelled.
- The ‘Recovery Loan Scheme’ has been extended to June 2022, with the amount that can be borrowed reduced from £10m to £2m.
- £3,000 ‘Apprenticeship Scheme’ extended until 31 January 2022
- ‘Kickstart Scheme’ extended until March 2022
- National Insurance will increase by 1.25%
- The national living wage will be increased to £9.50 an hour from 1 April 2022
- No increase to capital gains tax
- VAT rates will return to pre-pandemic levels as planned in April 2022.
Receive alerts whenever public sector contracts are published
Whether you are looking for contracts related to the projects above, or any work being offered by the public sector, we can help.
We collect details of every public sector contract published in the UK, and can let you know as soon as we find opportunities that we know you would be interested in.
Our alerts are tailored to your specific business needs, and we guarantee you will never miss a tender.
Visit our website for more information about our services, or call our New Business Executives on 0800 222 9009 to discuss your needs.
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