The November 2017 United Kingdom budget, sometimes described as the Autumn 2017 United Kingdom budget, was delivered by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 22 November 2017. It was Hammond's second as Chancellor of the Exchequer since being appointed to the role in July 2016.[1][2]
The budget
Economic statistics
Government borrowing
It reached £49.9bn in 2016–17, down by £8.4bn from the previous forecast.[3][4][5][6][7]
Forecasts were down from £39.5bn for 2017–18 to £25.6bn in 2022–23.[3][4][5][6][7]
A balanced budget
The government's fiscal target of reducing the structural deficit to 2% of GDP by 2021.[8]
GDP
At time of the budget the UK was seen to have slipped to the 6th largest economy in 2017. but the recent strengthening of the Pound Sterling means the UK is still the 5th largest economy, according to the IMF. Meanwhile, France slipped to 7th place.
After next revaluation, future revaluations to take place every three years rather than five.[5]
Staircase tax: businesses hit will have original bill reinstated.[5]
Discount for pubs (rateable value less than £100,000) extended by one year to March 2019.[5]
Digital tax
£200m a year extra from income tax on UK sales.[5]
Target £1.2bn a year in lost VAT from online shopping.[5]
Education (England)
Maths: £40m for maths teachers; £600 premium for schools for each student taking A-level maths.[5][18]
Computing: triple number of science teachers to 12,000; new national centre for computing.[5] The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) opened in November 2018 with £84m of funding.
National retraining scheme for digital expertise.[5]
1 Rail Card-4.5 million people aged 26–30 to get a third off rail fares.[5]
2 £337 million for new Tyne and Wear Metro Trains for Newcastle
Airlines
Increase on air passenger duty on premium-class tickets.[5]
Premium, business and first class tickets by £16 and those travelling by private jet by £47 per journey. Currently it only hits those travelling over 2,000 miles at £450 per journey on outbound flights, while long-haul top-end passengers pay £150.[19]
100% council tax premium on empty properties.[5][6][11]
£28m in three new housing pilot schemes – in the West Midlands, Manchester and Liverpool – to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it by 2027.[5][6][11]
£44bn of capital funding to help build 300,000 homes annually by mid-2020s.[5][6][11][16]
One million new homes on the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford corridor by 2050.[5]
£1.5m derelict house renovation several places in Lincolnshire, including in Skegness.[6][11]
Abolished stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £300,000, and on the first £300,000 of properties up to £500,000 in London.[5][6][11][14][15][16][17]
Grenfell Tower victims
£28m for mental health services and local regeneration for Kensington and Chelsea council.[5]
Rents
£125m of funding over the next two years to help 140,000 people.[5][6][11][16]
Brexit fiscal failure issues
£3bn set aside for Brexit preparations.[5][18][21]
The Office for Budget Responsibility expected the economy growing by just 1.5% in 2017–18 and 1.4% in 2018–19, down from the previous estimate of 2% and 1.6%, respectively.[26]
The Senedd questioned the value of the chancellor's tax-break for first time home buyers.[27]
Shares in many estate agents raised. Foxtons rose 4.25p to 72p, shares in Countrywide gained 3.5p to 114.5p, and Savills rose 1p to 948p.[20]
The Conservative MPs offer unswerving loyalty to the Chancellor, but Labour, the SNP and Lib' Dem's were very critical of him.[28][29]
Debate
A debate was held in House of Commons on 22 November 2017. During Jeremy Corbyn's response to the November 2017 Budget on 22 November 2017, Tory Whip Andrew Griffiths heckled him over his comments on the lack of adequate Government funding for care homes.[30] Labour MPs accused Griffiths of ageism and abusive language for shouting that Corbyn belonged in a care home.[31] Griffiths denied this, instead suggesting that he was responding to Corbyn's statement "there are elderly people in need of help," and that he said: "That's you!"[32] Corbyn responded with the comment: "The uncaring, uncouth attitude of certain members of parliament needs to be called out".[32]