New budget announced

Today the Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his first budget in the House of Commons; it is also the first budget following Brexit.

Here, we compiled a summary of some of the most important pledges the Government has made for the next few years, which are relevant for Cedrec users.

Environment and energy

• introduction of the plastic packaging tax, which will come into force in April 2022;
• also in April 2022, manufacturers and importers of plastic products that have less than 30% recycled content will be charged £200 per tonne;
• £640 million "nature for climate fund" which will help to protect natural habitats and planting 30,000 hectares of trees;
• £5.2 billion investment in flood defences over the next five years;
• £120 million in emergency relief for communities affected by this winter's flooding and £200 million for flood resilience;
• scrapping subsidies for red diesel used for off-road vehicles and machinery for most sectors, however, the subsidies will remain in place for farmers and rail operators;
• increased "taxes on pollution" and increase funding for green transport solutions by £1 billion;
• fuel duty will remain frozen for another year;
• levy on electricity will remain frozen and levy on gas will increase, which is aimed to divert people to greener energy;
• extra £900 million for research into nuclear fusion, space and electric vehicles.

Housing and planning

• the Government pledges to spend more than £600 billion on roads, rail, broadband and housing by 2025;
• £1 billion fund to remove all unsafe combustible cladding from all public and private housing higher than 18 metres (however, the Chancellor mentioned that he also wants the developers and property owners to "do their fair share")
• stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers of UK properties is to be levied at 2% from April 2021.

Safety and welfare

Information was provided in relation to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease:

• statutory sick pay will be paid to all employees who choose to self-isolate, even if they do not have symptoms, during the COVID-19 outbreak;
• Contributory Employment Support Allowance benefit claimants will be able to claim sick pay from day one, not after eight days as it was before;
• companies with fewer than 250 staff will be refunded sick pay payments for two weeks by the government during the current coronavirus outbreak.