A finance expert believes it will be business as usual in Staffordshire following yesterday’s “muted” Spring Budget announcement – but has called on local government to ensure the county benefits from a national push to establish the UK as a world leader in high-growth industries.
Chris Alderman, Chair of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce’s Money Matters Forum and Tax Director at RSM’s Stoke-on-Trent office, has told Daily Focus that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made the right decision in being “sensible” with his budget announcement.
He said: “I don’t think there is anything in the budget that will drive significant behavioural change from businesses in the county.
“A lot of challenges they are facing are not going to be solved overnight from what the Chancellor said in the budget announcement.
“I think that was expected given the state of the economy and that it is in a very fragile position. In terms of tax giveaways, there was very little scope with what the Chancellor could do and I am more comfortable that he has taken a measured approach rather than do something to make a statement and win votes at the general election.
“As an accountant, stability and not having any shock waves is as positive as we could have hoped for.”
The Chancellor announced a second 2p cut to the rate of Employee’s National Insurance Contributions from 10 per cent to eight per cent in April meaning the average worker earning £35,400 a year will be over £900 better off this year.
The VAT registration threshold is set to increase from £85,000 to £90,000, which has been described as “very welcome” by Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce in another Spring Budget follow-up story here.
From April 2026, the High Income Child Benefit Charge will be assessed on a household basis. As an interim measure, starting in April, the threshold for repaying child benefit will rise from £50,000 to £60,000. Child benefit will not need to be repaid in full until earnings exceed £80,000.
Chris said: “The change to national insurance will help some of the cost-of-living pressures, as will a similar reduction for the self-employed. Changes to the VAT threshold are also positive and the freezing of fuel duty for the next 12 months is also welcome.
“It will be interesting to see whether the changes to the Child Benefit Charge impacts on the working practices of staff members and businesses locally.
“You could have a scenario where someone didn’t want to earn more money or increase hours because it would start eroding child benefit and now it might mean that someone is prepared to work more hours or take a more senior position within a business. It could have been a bit of an artificial blocker before.”
Speaking about new tax reliefs and investments to establish the UK as a world leader in high-growth industries such as the creative sector, advanced manufacturing and life sciences, Chris added: “Staffordshire is the creative county and I would hope that at a local government level they can help businesses to make the most of this focus on high-growth industries.
“We should be looking at what we can do at a local level to incentivise these sectors that have been identified as being, essentially, the future of the UK economy.”
- Also announced in the budget, pubs, breweries and distilleries will benefit from a further freeze to alcohol duty until February 2025.
- For a round up of reaction from national business organisations, click here.
