Emma Simon

What can we expect to see in Philip Hammond’s first – and last – Spring Budget?

After this week, the centrepiece of the financial year is being shunted to the Autumn. Good news, no doubt, for the city bigwigs, fund managers, chief executives and financial hacks and flacks who’d rather be betting on which horse will romp home at Cheltenham than which tax relief, pension allowance or benefit will be axed this time.

But for those wanting to take a punt on what will be in Philip Hammond’s Budget Box tomorrow, here are some likely runners and riders.

Despite having an extra billion or two to play with thanks to higher than expected economic growth and bumper tax receipts, it seems a racing certainty that there won’t be any big money giveaways. In interviews this weekend, the Chancellor made it clear that the increase in tax receipts was ‘fuel for the tank’ — and he gave a timely reminder on the size of the UK deficit.

He may have ditched George Osborne’s commitment to move into surplus by the end of this Parliament, but this doesn’t mean he’s going on a spending spree, particularly while the uncertainty of Brexit remains. All rabbits will be austerity-skinned first.

But the challenges posed by Brexit will shape other aspects of the Budget. One dead cert is that Hammond will announce a big shake-up of technical training and education, with the introduction of new ‘T-levels’.

He is expected to stump up around £500 million for further education colleges to help support the ‘new pathways’ into a range of technical based careers —from construction to more design-based professions. This, it is hoped, will help plug gaps that may be left by more highly-skilled EU migrants.

Other bookies’ favourites include an increase to the personal allowance — the first slice of your earnings on which no tax is paid.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in