What are the main points from Hammond’s Budget 2018?

Last week, Phillip Hammond announced his third Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. This article looks at some of the key points from his speech, and provides a helpful breakdown of those relevant to current university students.

The world of work

Many current finalists are starting to consider their career prospects – and look towards the world of work. Mr Hammond had some positive announcements about employment, noting that there are 3.3 million more people working since 2010, and forecasting 800,000 more jobs by 2022. The Budget also brought good news for those who have part-time jobs: the National Living Wage is increasing in April 2019 by 4.9%, from £7.83 to £8.21 an hour.

With technology advancing at the speed of light, it’s likely that many graduates will be looking for jobs in this industry. However, if you plan to work for a big technology company with global sales of over £500m, then your future employer will be liable, from April 2020, to a new 2% digital services tax on UK revenue.

Mr Hammond also announced further funding for 10 University Enterprise Zones. These zones are dedicated geographical areas, designed to promote interaction between universities and surrounding local businesses. The scheme was piloted in 2014 in four areas, and has now been extended to allow more universities to reinforce their connections with small local businesses.

Consumer habits & Brexit

The Chancellor spoke about investing £650m into reviving the High Street, and announced a further £900m in business rates relief for small businesses. Due to the increase in online spending and global business expansion, these areas certainly merit investment.

For those among you who like the occasional alcoholic beverage, you’ll be pleased to learn that the duty on beer, cider and spirits is set to be frozen. However, in February, the cost of a bottle of wine is due to rise by 8p, in line with inflation.

As to Brexit, the main points mentioned were an extra £500m dedicated to leaving preparations, and the release of a special 50p coin that will commemorate the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Mental Health and the NHS

The Chancellor announced that there will be an extra £20.5 billion spend on the NHS, over the next five years, as well as a minimum extra £2bn per year for mental health services.

Mental health was a particular priority – with the announcement of planned new mental health crisis centres, and more mental health ambulances to be mobilised. Mr Hammond also spoke about a planned 24-hour mental health crisis hotline.

Environment

As a generation, we have certainly more cause to be concerned about the environment than our predecessors – which is why some of Mr Hammond’s announcements came as good news. There is set to be a new tax on plastic packaging that doesn’t contain at least 30% recyclable material, and there will also be £60m dedicated for planting trees in England.

However, some were disappointed that Mr Hammond did not announce an expected ‘latte levy’ for takeaway coffee cups. He explained that there will be no tax on take-out cups, but he did say that this will be reconsidered if the industry doesn’t make enough progress.

International Students

And finally, there’s some good news for non-European international students who travel at the end of every term. Currently, e-passport gates at airports are only available to people from Europe, but Mr Hammond announced that these are set to be opened to people from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.