Commons Sense

The last few years have been economically turbulent, not only in the UK, but around the world.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, our businesses in Windsor, as well as up and down the country, remained resilient, working in spite of almost insurmountable obstacles to continue to serve their customers.

In addition to these challenges, businesses have had to contend with rising inflation as a result of the furlough scheme, as well as subsidies to assist with energy bills after the war in Ukraine.

However, there is now some good news, with the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting that inflation is set to fall below its 2 per cent target within a few months.

It is in this context that the Chancellor announced a number of pro-growth measures in last week’s Budget: a 2p cut in rate of National Insurance levied on employees, which will save the average worker £450 a year, an expansion to ‘full expensing’ on capital investments for businesses to include leased assets, and a major boost to the UK’s energy security with a new £1billion renewable energy subsidies auction.

Other announcements providing relief to consumers are freezes to alcohol and fuel duty.

One area where I know many small business owners in Windsor would like to see the Chancellor go further is on VAT registration thresholds for businesses.

Whilst the Budget increased these thresholds from £85,000 - £90,000, a greater rise would encourage more small businesses to grow, as they would be more willing to invest further to take on extra staff to expand their operations, and keep more of their money without fear of an additional tax penalty.

This would result in the positive feedback loop of more income for businesses, more employment, and consequently, more tax revenue despite the higher threshold.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and community in Windsor, and I hope we see more measures to support them in the coming months.

However, overall, this was a budget truly worthy of the season, heralding a bright year ahead as our economy moves into growth.