Reaction to the Autumn Statement

17 Nov 2022

Published in: Black Country Chamber of Commerce News

---

Chancellor delivers his Autumn Fiscal Statement

---

This morning, the Chancellor delivered the much-anticipated Autumn Statement.

Today’s announcement was an attempt to find up to £55bn to rebalance the UK’s books and restore the nation’s economic credibility because of the mini budget a few months ago. For Black Country Chamber of Commerce members and the wider business community across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, the statement needed to restore confidence and enable them to make long-term planning decisions during an already complex landscape of escalating costs and inflation.

Measures announced included:

• Threshold for 45p tax rate will be brought down from £150k to £125k
• While the Employers National Insurance threshold is frozen until April 2028, the Employment Allowance will be retained
• Unearned income reforms with the dividend allowances cut from £2k to £1k next year and £500 from next April at the new, higher level of £5k until March 2026
• Electric vehicles, previously tax free, will no longer be exempt from Excise Duty
• Government will increase Energy Profits Levy from 25% to 35% until 2028
• Stamp Duty cuts remain until March 2025
• £13.6bn package of business rates support

Reacting to the statement, Sarah Moorhouse, CEO of the Chamber said: “With the country already in recession, across the region, firms are deferring key decisions around resource allocation, investment and what their priorities need to be to increase growth and productivity due to current economic conditions. Tackling this requires practical decisions which enable growth.

“A key indicator of today’s measures will be the response of the markets. In September and October, we saw what happens when fiscal policy and market forces are misaligned which made it harder for many businesses and households already dealing with a combination of issues including escalating energy costs, rising inflation and higher interest rates.

“While the term tax rise was largely absent from today’s announcements, businesses will be concerned about the level of so-called stealth taxes. For high energy users such as our manufacturers throughout the region, measures which will help them become more energy efficient, reduce their costs and help them achieve net zero will be welcomed. Further growth priorities which help businesses connect through commitments to infrastructure projects should be received positively and we hope the Black Country will benefit from the on-going levelling up agenda as key decisions are devolved locally.

“As a region of innovators, makers and entrepreneurs’ regulatory reforms which focus on key sectors will be watched keenly by our businesses along with a commitment to invest in R&D.

“With several decisions deferred or taking place over the next years and after the general election, the government appears to be balancing measures to deal with the pain being experienced right now with a hope that economic conditions improve over the next few years. We look forward to seeing more detail behind the announcements today and will continue to analyse what this means for Black Country firms.”