Autumn Budget

[OccultOctopus]

Key points so far:

• Upper tax threshold dropped from £150k to £125k
• Other tax thresholds frozen until 2028
• Windfall tax on energy firms to go up to 35%
• Electric cars will have to pay VED from 2025
• Review of a further pension age rise brought forward
• More people on UC to be given 'support coaches' to help them find work
• Spending squeeze on all depts except health

The poor always get the blame, why not remember that, in just a few weeks, Trussonomics doubled the black hole?

A very small minority on UC do well, usually if they can also claim LCWRA, perhaps PIP. For everyone else, UC is a pittance, it has poverty baked in, it was designed to punish. The plain fact is, that for many, you cannot work your way out of poverty, something at least, that could be done, under Thatcher.

Spare a thought for poor old Liz Truss, she can now claim £115,000 per annum, on top of anything else she's entitled to, after her short but highly successful stint, at dividing the masses and getting you to turn, with much vitriol, on your friends, neighbours and family.

Yes people are swallowing the Hunt line that they fixed the "mistakes" of a few weeks ago.

They haven't at all, they've calmed markets but the monetary black hole is still there that she caused & which everyone but the rich will suffer for.

If you re on 150k p.a £1250 extra in tax is a tiny amount of your income.

I agree with this. Lots deliberately choose to work a small amount of hours to stay under tax and NI thresholds and claim maximum UC. They aren't much different than those who don't work imo.

Seen lots of comments on here about people working on UC but are you telling me a couple both working, one full-time and one part-time, need to be on UC? I understand if it's a single parent, but not a couple or a single person with no kids. Equally a single parent may have a good income from maintenance that is completely disregarded as income and they are treated the same as someone who gets no maintenance.

The Vulnerable should mean you aren't able to help yourself and need society's support, not that you choose not to work.

What is the cut off for UC? There was a post somewhere from a teacher who said they were claiming it. Maybe they were part time but I have no idea where the cut off is

I have a single parent friend on £48,000 who gets child benefit and £40 a week, and needs it

As I said I do understand single parents needing it, although I'm surprised they still get UC earning £48k.

Given how tight our system is, if they get it they need it. It will presumably just be the lowest level of childcare support you can get, or there will be an additional need.

What is clear is that UC is not fit for purpose. It should be a safety net for disabled and those who can't work. The amount a single person out of work but looking for a job gets gets is a stingy amount. A care leaver, who is vulnerable gets no extra and have to survive on about £61 per week and single room in shared house accommodation allowance. They should be given more as no family to fall back on to help them out, but the money seems to be drained away by people working just a few hours 9 or now 16 and then claiming massive top ups. I can understand more if you have a couple of kids at primary school and no child care but really if children are 11 and at secondary I don't see why a parent could not work full time, by that I mean 37 hours a week. They are choosing to work 16 hours and getting a top up when a person could work more hours is not really what the welfare state was about. On a different thread there is a 17 year old lad, almost 18 living away from he paying £120 a week for accomodation including bills and on minimum wage being advised not to work 40 hours because he will be better off working part time hours and claiming benefits. This should never be happening. Minimum wage needs to go up so employers pay the wage therefore less need for benefits top ups we all pay taxes towards. I think Truss was putting up minimum working hours for those claiming benefit top ups to 20 hours from January. Not sure if Sunak has kept that idea or not. Not sure why not 37 hours for many with older children.

Having a go on people on the lowest incomes working PT or keeping under TH's is missing the point, the amounts claimed are very small in the scheme of things, compared to say the wind fall tax loop holes or low tax rates on dividends.

Available and affordable childcare is also a huge issue, esp in the NHS & Social Care where so many work PT because of this.

Minimum wage needs to go up so employers pay the wage therefore less need for benefits top ups we all pay taxes towards

I agree with what your saying in principal BUT the problem is, many workers previously earning 3 or 4k above NMW are now on or barely above it and hence able to claim UC.

In our area, staff are getting a 2% pay rise (2yr deal 1yr ago) yet MW is going up 10%

Give it 3 or 4 years and nurses will be starting on MW :(

£48,000 doesnt go far these days

Our household income is much lower than that.

@caringcarer agree about the Care Leavers. Although they should still get some help and support from corporate parent with a personal adviser, financially and emotionally they are very vulnerable. These CL are an example of those we should support more rather than those working the system because it lets them.

Of course there are, hence "'obviously it will vary for personal circumstances" on my post!

I'm just curious where the numbers come from, that justify one in need group receiving half of what the other in need group get.

On the old system I thought working tax use to pay 100% of your childcare?

I think it's complicated if you have been part time for years due to circumstances do you really expect someone to work full time for the same amount of money? That is the real issue here along with extortionate childcare.

I'm part time, single parent and I pay £40 per day in the school holidays and DS has no after school club during term time. He only has snack and chat that finishes at 16.15 which is pretty useless.

@Endofmyteatherr, not expecting everyone to work 40 hours but 9am-4pm should be doable. That could be 6.5 hours a day. 32.5 hours each week and still collect from school. I always used childminder to collect mine from school. I don't see how your point of worki g part time for years but not wanting full time or more hours works? No idea why government would pay people to stay home and not work when they could work more but choose not to. Takes money away from more vulnerable such as disabled who often can't work and care leavers who get a pittance.

@MountainRinglet, I am a Foster Carer and in West Midlands all the financial support they get here is a bit of help towards council tax. They get help to find a single room in shared accomodation. They might get a £10 voucher for their birthday but no other financial support. They get a bit of practical and emotional support with care worker helping them set up bank account and helps them to claim benefits but it is pitiful what they can claim. They have to feed and clothe themselves plus any phone SIM all from £61 per week. If they go to college they can apply for and usually get a free bus pass, free school meal and bursary but not all of them can cope in college. No wonder so many young girls get themselves pregnant. Their money goes up a bit once they have a child. We foster a 16 year old with learning disabilities and he goes to college and will stay living with us indefinitely. He is lucky because we have spare rooms and he has become like part of our family he has lived with.us so long. I do know some carers who make a child move out at 18 so they can put a younger child in the room. I feel so sorry for those children.

There should be more support for care leavers, but care leavers under 25 are one of the exceptions to the shared accommodation rate for under 35s. They are eligible for 1 bed LHA rate.

@caringcarer that is so tough for those young people, as if life hasn't been hard enough already. At this point they are very vulnerable to all sorts of exploitation, particularly if money is tight and as you say having their own children which may lead to a repeat of the cycle.

Overseas aid should be cut to 0.2% divided between wildlife preservation and birth control. The saved money should be used for defence.

Has been increased to 5%

Usually no point discussing this with the type of people who don't understand why and how the aid budget benefits us, but this is a stupid suggestion.

Just where are these 9-4 jobs? Even a 4pm finish won’t allow you to pick up from school. What planet are you on?

Yes it needs to be more like 9.30 to 2.30 to fit around school hours. In my area there is only one childminder with a waiting list and she charges £9.50 an hour for school wrap around care.