Spring Statement 2019

Chancellor Philip Hammond unveiled his Spring Statement earlier this week which included good news for construction contractors in particular.

You can read a summary of the Spring Statement here, but we’ve picked out the elements which are most pertinent to contractors.

• Since 2010 there are over 3.5m more people in work and wages are increasing at their fastest pace in over a decade, forecast to continue growing faster than inflation
• Public borrowing has been reduced by four-fifths since 2009/10
• Debt fell last year and is forecast to fall continuously
• In education and skills, the government is undertaking a review of the latest international evidence on the impact of minimum wages to inform the future National Living Wage policy. See further information on our article on the National Living Wage here.
• The Chancellor said the government was ‘determined to fix the broken housing market’. New policies to raise housing supply were announced previously, the Spring Statement reported that the government is on track to reach 300,000 a year on average.  The Spring Statement set out further steps to deliver against that target, including increased investment in building projects in London, Oxford-Cambridge and Cheshire.
• A  spending review will conclude alongside the Budget to set departmental budgets if an EU exit deal is agreed.