Autumn Statement 2023

On Wednesday 22 November, the Government released their Autumn Statement detailing the new measures being put in place.  

We wanted to put together a round-up of some of the measures that might affect you, however you can read the full statement here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-statement-2023  

Universal Credit and Tax Credits 

From April 2024, most benefits and Tax Credits in England and Wales will increase by 6.7%, in line with September’s inflation. This could see an average increase of £470 a year for millions of households. 

State Pension 

State pension payments will rise by 8.5% which means millions of people will receive a weekly increase of up to £17.35 from April 2024. 

National Insurance 

Employees and self-employed workers will pay less in national insurance from next year.  

For employees, the rate of national insurance paid on earnings of between £12,570 and £50,270 a year will be cut from 12% to 10%. 

This is expected to benefit around 27 million employees and means the average worker on a salary of £35,500 will save £450 over the 2024/25 tax year. 

For self-employed workers, ‘class 4’ contributions will be cut from 9% to 8%, and mandatory ‘class 2’ contributions will be scrapped. 

Around two million self-employed workers will pay less national insurance and the average self-employed working, earning £28,200 a year, will pay £350 less than they did this year.  

National Minimum Wage 

From April 2024, lower paid workers will benefit from a boost in their wages.