Budget - key points
The Chancellor of the Exchequer,
George Osborne, published his emergency Budget on 22 June 2010. The
key elements of interest to registered childminders are listed
below.
The Government is looking to cut 25 per cent of departmental
budgets over four
years. However, the Chancellor stated that not all
departments will receive the same settlement and
recognised particular pressures on the education system and on
defence.
The
child element of tax credits is to be increased by £150
above indexation next year.
The Government will not
introduce the pre-election promise of a new tax
credit element for infants and tax credit payments for
families earning over £40,000 per year are to be reduced.
Government is to freeze child
benefit payments for the next three years.
The Health in Pregnancy grant
to be abolished from April 2011.
The
Sure Start maternity grant
will
be restricted to the first child only.
The
Health in Pregnancy grant to be abolished
from April 2011.
The
Sure Start maternity grant
will
be restricted to the first child only.
The Government will expect
lone parents to look for work when their youngest child goes to
schooland the
Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions will bring forward proposals to further reform the
benefits system as a tool to support work and encourage aspiration
in time for the autumn spending review. Currently, out-of-work parents have to apply
for Jobseeker's Allowance once their youngest reaches age
10.
The Income tax personal
allowance will increase by £1,000 to £7,475
in April. The long-term objective
remains to increase the personal allowance to £10,000, as set out
in the coalition agreement. The government says is will make "real
steps towards achieving that objective through the rest of this
Parliament". Treasury
figures suggest that 23 million people who are basic rate taxpayers
will each gain by up to £170 a year and 880,000 of the lowest income
taxpayers will be taken out of tax altogether.
The Government will also accelerate
the increase in the State Pension Age to 66 from April 2011.
On 4 January next year, the main rate of
VAT will rise from 17.5 to 20 per cent. Exemptions
on food, children's clothing and newspapers to
remain.
The Government plans to
make it cheaper for companies to employ people. From April
2011 the threshold at which employers start to pay National
Insurance will rise by £21 per week above indexation. The cost of
hiring people on incomes lower than £20,000 will be less than it is
today.
The Government will also
reduce the small companies tax rate by cutting it
to 20 pence and will extend the Enterprise Finance Guarantee
Scheme, which supports small and medium enterprise (SME) access to
lending. The Business
Secretary will be coming forward in the summer with further
proposals to expand the availability of credit.
For the next three years anyone who
sets up a new business outside London, the South East and
the Eastern region will be exempt from up to £5000 of
employer national insurance payments, for each of the first 10
employees hired. The Government aims to have
the scheme up and running by September, but any qualifying new
business set up from today will also receive
help.
Councils which propose low council
tax increases will be offered extra funds to allow them to freeze
the tax for one year from April 2011.
Page last updated:
6/24/2010