Overview
- Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first Budget to MPs on Wednesday, October 28, at about 12:30pm, setting out how the government plans to fill a sharply reduced fiscal headroom.
- Officials and media reports say the Treasury is weighing household energy support, including a possible expansion of the Warm Home Discount and an extra rebate, as a way to ease rising bills for vulnerable families.
- Tax options under discussion are focused and targeted, with reports highlighting a likely rise in the bank profits surcharge and proposals to force online marketplaces to collect sellers’ tax, while major CGT hikes have been ruled out publicly.
- Business groups have demanded short-term certainty and pro-growth measures such as clearer tax rules, lower hiring costs, stronger investment incentives for SMEs, regional finance support, and help to revive the housing market.
- All choices are constrained by rising debt—gross debt has hit about £3 trillion—and higher borrowing costs, which mean the Budget will be closely watched by the OBR, markets and regional communities that could be hit by measures like reclassifying holiday lets.