Chancellors Autumn Statement

gov.uk

The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will give his annual Autumn Statement to Parliament on 3 December 2014. The statement provides an update on the government’s plans for the economy based on the latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. These forecasts will be published alongside the Autumn Statement on 3 December.

George Osborne has already said he is aiming at tax credits and benefits in new squeeze on working poor a contrast to Ed Miliband’s promise to easy the cost of living crisis for working class people

A re-elected Tory government would hit 10m households with a two-year freeze on benefits and tax credits in a bid to cut £3bn a year from the welfare budget.

The freeze will hit the poorest third in society most and see in-work families with children lose as much as £490 a year in child benefit and tax credits. The average loss will be £300 a year per household but this loss could vary across different families.

Osborne has still to find a further £9bn in welfare cuts in the first two years of the next parliament. Osborne also said he would cut general departmental spending by a further £13bn in the first two years of the parliament – enough, alongside growth, to put the overall budget in surplus by 2018. He said the latest Treasury estimate calculated £25bn was needed overall to eliminate the deficit.

Osborne said a Tory government would cut the maximum benefits a household could claim in a year from £26,000 to £23,000.

The Chancellor has also said he would seek to end youth unemployment by giving unemployed 18 to 21-year-olds six months to find work or training before their jobseeker’s allowance would be withdrawn.

According to the Independent Newspaper the Chancellor will have to borrow as much as £75bm more over the next five years. Ed Miliband, is blaming the Government for lost revenues due to their policies.

Falling North Sea oil prices, but most importantly the loss of tax receipts from falling wages and ballooning social security payments are at the heart of the Chancellors problems.

According to the Independent Newspaper, in a highly critical report, Maggie Atkinson, the Governments Children’s Commissioner says that deficit-reduction policies have cut the incomes of single parents and poor working families by as much as 10 per cent. The cuts are in breach of the commitments to the United Nations, the Governments Children’s Commissioner warns.