Summer Budget 2015

[Amethyst]

Well, today's the budget, so the speculation is rife...

So speculation wise....

Tax Credit will be reduced to a maximum of two children for new claimants. Current claimants with more than two children will lose out if they stop claiming and start claiming again. Presumably that also means if a partner moves in or leaves as change of circumstances from joint claim to single claim is treated as a new claim.

Benefits cap overall to be reduced to £20k ( except for London where they are allowed an extra £3k ). CAP excludes disability benefits same as currently.

Murmurs about social housing/council housing being means tested and those who earn over the threshold ( £60k single / £80k household ???) having rents increased to 80%-100% market rate ? Not sure on that one, it's been mooted about since 2008 - and Shelter were massively against the idea.

Tax allowance to go up ?

anything else ?

Then we'll see what actually happens at 12.30.

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

JRF calls for the Government to:

• Work with employers to reduce the prevalence of low-paid, insecure work;
• Support people to take on more hours;
• Start to shift subsidies away from housing benefit towards an increased supply of genuinely affordable housing;
• For recommendations on how to achieve this, read our full Budget Briefing.

• http://www.jrf.org.uk/welfare-reform...ampaign=buffer

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Joy of joys, here we go....

''difficult decisions'' to ''live within our means''

''we are all in this together''

"We should always fix the roof while the sun is shining"

groan.....

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

HM Treasury @hmtreasury 3m3 minutes ago Today we’re announcing a major review of the regulation of claims management companies #SummerBudget








Carol Brady

Chairman of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute's Board


Derby, United KingdomPublic Policy

Trading Standards Institute, CPCM Consultancy Limited, The Commission for Local Administration in England

Trading Standards Institute, Office for Legal Complaints, Legal Services Board Consumer Panel

Loughborough University

Company Website Company Website

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Student Funding.... Maintenance Grants being changed into Loans.... to be paid back when earning over £21k - increasing maintenance loan to £8200.

freezing loan repayment threshold for 5 years.

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Welfare ............

Increase funding for womens refuge centres and domestic violence victims

18-21 - youth obligation - earn or learn

no entitlement to housing benefit under 21's - unless vulnerable

all working parents 3-4 yr olds free childcare 30 hrs week

expect parents inc lone parents of 3 yr olds to look for work

ESA work related activity aligned with JSA

TAX CREDITS - freeze working age benefits for 4 years

SMP & DLA excluded from freeze

Housing Benefit - rents in social housing reduced by 1% a year?

Working Tax Credit - Reduce the level of earnings income threshold 6420 reduced to 3200? Tax credit taper rate increased to 48% - disregard changed.... hmmm confused.com there.......

CAP on total benefits reduced from £26k to £23k in london, £20k rest of country

and yes earning over £30k will have to pay market rate on social housing rents ( ouch) - £40k in London.

The government believes that those on higher incomes should not be subsidised through social rents. Therefore, social housing tenants with household incomes of £40,000 and above in London, and £30,000 and above in the rest of England, will be required to “Pay to Stay”, by paying a market or near market rent for their accommodation. This will ensure they pay a fair level of rent, or make way for those whose need is greater. Local Authorities will repay the rent subsidy that they recover from high income tenants to the Exchequer, contributing to deficit reduction. Housing Associations will be able to use the rent subsidy that they recover to reinvest in new housing. This could raise up to hundreds of millions of pounds in additional rental income for Housing Associations. The government will consult and set out the detail of this reform in due course.

The government will review the use of lifetime tenancies in social housing to limit their use and ensure that households are offered tenancies that match their needs, and ensure the best use is made of the social housing stock.

Child Tax Credits - limit CTC to two children for new claimants from April 2017

Housing Benefit - removing family element

Child Benefit maintained as is.

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Personal tax allowances...

Increase to £11,000 before paying any income tax. Should raise in line with minimum wage.

Increase to £43k for highest rate of income tax.

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

National Living Wage ... £7.20 an hour from next April. ( mandatory @ age 25) £9.00 by 2020.

( currently National Minimum Wage is £6.50 )

( The current Living Wage is actually £7.85 so the rebranding? of NMW to NLW is welcome but not good enough )

Good point though it does virtually ( barring £200 odd) take minimum wage out of income tax.

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

https://www.gov.uk/government/topica...dget-july-2015


Summer Budget 2015: key announcements

The Chancellor has presented his Summer Budget to Parliament - here's a summary of what was announced.



Summer Budget 2015

This is the Budget in full. You can find supporting and related documents below.

[valeriej43]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Heard him mention pension credit ,but didnt catch what he actually said,anyone know please?

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Only something to do with Equitable life as far as I can see

Further payments under the Equitable Life Payment Scheme – The government will make a further payment to Equitable Life policyholders on Pension Credit who received 22.4% of their relative loss. This payment will be for an additional 22.4% and will be made in early 2016. (59)

Equitable Life Payment Scheme

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme, which began making payments in 2011, has paid out over £1 billion to around 87% of eligible policyholders. The government is announcing today that the Equitable Life Payment Scheme will close to new claims on 31 December 2015. As part of this, the government will undertake a further effort to trace remaining policy holders due £50 or more. With Profits Annuitants will continue to receive annual payments under the Scheme for their lifetimes. This Budget also announces that eligible policyholders in receipt of Pension Credit will see their lump sum payment doubled, with payments made in early 2016.

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Response from the actual Living Wage Foundation on the new ''living'' wage

LIVING WAGE FOUNDATION RESPONSE TO BUDGET 2015
8th July 2015, 15:18

Rhys Moore, director, Living Wage Foundation said:

“We are delighted that the announcement made in the Budget this lunchtime will see over 2.5 million workers receive a much needed pay rise. This is a massive victory for Citizens UK and those communities, workers and business leaders who have campaigned for a Living Wage since 2001. We agree with the Chancellor that work should be the surest way out of poverty. However, this announcement raises several important questions.

“Is this really a Living Wage? The Living Wage is calculated according to the cost of living whereas the Low Pay Commission calculates a rate according to what the market can bear. Without a change of remit for the Low Pay Commission this is effectively a higher National Minimum Wage and not a Living Wage.

http://www.livingwage.org.uk/news/li...se-budget-2015

[jon1965]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

The man is a vile liar , all in it together is bullshit, he means "we are going to screw those poorest and least able to afford it" . So people in WRAG are going to lose over £30 a week , that money was given because costs are higher very often when you are ill.

People really are so very stupid, did no one think that once the moderating factor of the Lib Dems was removed the true tory colours of screw the poor would show. So much for camoron saying disability benefits would be protected.
I really can see this budget killing people

[Amethyst]

Re: Summer Budget 2015

Not sure just how accurate this can be but it's quite interesting to try out various scenario's. http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/services/T...t&sf10766639=1