The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson speaking at a press conference on Saturday night, 31 October 2020, confirmed widespread expectations of a second national lockdown in England to help stem the growing resurgence of the coronavirus. The Government was faced with significant concerns that if they…
If you are faced with making employees redundant, the terms that determine the amount payable may be written into your staff contracts of employment. Otherwise, employees will normally be entitled to statutory redundancy pay if they have been working with you for two years or more.…
Recent economic forecasts for 2020 published by HM Treasury will do little to inspire business confidence. In their comparison of independent forecasts published last month the unemployment rate is estimated to rise to 8% and in the same period, GDP falls by 9%. The only…
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has made a statement to the House of Commons on the government’s economic response to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Chancellor confirmed that the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said that the Coronavirus will (not surprisingly) have significant negative impacts on…
Prior to 11 March 2020, business owners could sell multiple, qualifying businesses during their lifetime, and as long as the total chargeable gains did not exceed £10m, a reduced rate of Capital Gains Tax of just 10% would apply. Since budget day, 11 March 2020,…
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, outlined a raft of measures earlier in the week to support the UK’s ailing businesses, those affected by the forbidding COVID-19 outbreak. The list that follows summarises his announcements in the order they were announced: • The Treasury is making available…
What can we expect from the budget next week? On the expenditure side, infrastructure and the NHS seem to be the two major areas for investment. HS2 and other rail improvements in the North are likely to be beneficiaries as will carbon capture and other…
Even though many of the uncertainties that have plagued UK politics during 2019 are still to be decided, at least the hiatus in parliament has been resolved; the Conservatives now have a working majority and we can expect action on a number of fronts. Brexit…
If there was a measure of stability in UK politics, we would be expecting the usual dispatch-box presentation by the Chancellor before Christmas. The annual budget is usually presented in November each year. This may still happen this year, but present uncertainties regarding the…
The following comments were written on the 13th March 2019 immediately following Philip Hammond’s presentation of the 2019 Spring Statement to Parliament. In theory, the government uses the Spring Statement to respond to the most recent forecasts made by the Office of Budget Responsibility…