Helping people fairly
The Government has already taken action to help people through the current global economic difficulties. Building on this, the Government is providing further targeted support.
To provide additional support for low- and middle-income taxpayers, help for homeowners facing financial difficulties, and to ensure those facing redundancy and seeking employment are helped back into work as quickly as possible, the Government will:
- make permanent the £600 increase in the income tax personal allowance announced in May 2008 with a further increase of £130, meaning basic rate taxpayers pay £145 less tax a year in 2009-10. The Government is also taking measures to consolidate the public finances, and the combined effect of all its reforms will mean that taxpayers with incomes below £40,000 will pay less tax and national insurance contributions in April 2011 compared to April 2008;
- bring forward April's increase in Child Benefit to January, worth an additional £22 on average to families; and bring forward the commitment to increase the child element of the child Tax Credit by £25 above indexation in April 2010 to April 2009 meaning it will increase by £75 above indexation to £2,235 in April 2009;
- pay £60 to all pensioners in the New Year, which is equivalent to bringing forward the April increase in the basic State Pensioner for a single pensioner to January;
- create a new Lending Panel to improve monitoring of lending to households and businesses, and provide help through mortgage rescue and Support for Mortgage Interest schemes to eligible homeowners in difficulty;
- provide an additional £1.3 billion to continue delivering effective support for the unemployed to find a new job;
- bring together Government and major employers in a National Employment Partnership to tackle rising unemployment;
- strengthen pre-redundancy support, including through Train to Gain, Skills Hubs, and the Rapid Response Service;
- contribute 50 pence for every pound saved in the Saving Gateway scheme and reforms to modernise tax administration and protect tax revenues.
