A FINANCE expert from Northwich has described the Chancellor’s spring statement as ‘a mixed bag’.

Paul Brown, tax partner at WR Partners, outlined the three measures seemingly introduced to ease the immediate concerns of those facing a spike in the cost of living:

  • Fuel duty reduced by 5p per litre from 6pm on the day of the Spring Statement until March next year.
  • VAT on energy efficient technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps will be reduced to 0 per cent.
  • The Household support fund will be doubled from £500 million to £1 billion – these funds can be deployed by local authorities to help the most in need.

Mr Brown commented: “So much for the short-term measures to soften the blow to the ever-increasing cost of living.

“These measures are at best, a mixed bag, and certainly not as generous as some may have hoped.

“As for the longer term, the main bulk of the Chancellor’s announcements relate to his shiny new tax plan which he brandished with great excitement in front of the house.

“A more cynical person than me may think this is less of a plan and more a hastily cobbled together list of half-formed ideas in an attempt to create a feel-good factor, but of course I am not that person."

Northwich Guardian: Paul Brown, a tax partner at Northwich-based WR PartnersPaul Brown, a tax partner at Northwich-based WR Partners

“However, it is interesting to note that the hype around the 1p basic rate cut seems slightly at odds with the fact that a large proportion of the population will shortly suffer a 1.25 per cent tax rise – I guess a 0.25 per cent net increase (but only after two years of a 1.25 per cent increase) is better than it could have been.

“Overall, I am not convinced that the measures announced merited the kind of dramatic summary with which the Chancellor brought his speech to an end with. 

“The attempts to address the immediate concerns of the Chancellor’s much-loved hard-working families seem, at best, half-hearted while many of the longer-term measures seemed to pose more questions than they answered. 

“I do have a good deal of sympathy with the Chancellor in that he has faced a pretty tough set of challenges over the last few years, but I can’t help echoing a voice that drifted across the chamber during his speech – ‘is that it?’”