UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that, from July, the starting threshold for paying National Insurance is rising by more than £3,000 to £12,750.
The news was revealed in the Spring Statement.
The chancellor also confirmed a cut of 5p per litre in fuel duty in an attempt to help families and businesses cope with soaring fuel costs in recent times.
Wouter van Tol, head of government, community affairs & sustainability at DS Smith, said, “The price of energy is affecting homes everywhere, and the targeted support for households announced by the chancellor is to be welcomed. But it’s a reality that the price of energy is affecting UK industry, as well as UK homes. Like other manufacturers, we are committed to the UK, but the energy to deliver goods and services here comes at nearly double the cost of that in Europe.
“Looking ahead, businesses’ ability to invest in UK growth, UK jobs, and UK-grown green tech, could become compromised without government intervention, so we welcome the commitment to reform R&D tax credit and to cut tax rates on business investment in the Autumn.
“Right now, the priority for government must be to secure energy supplies, but this must be balanced with the longer term need for clean energy. Whatever the future energy solution – nuclear or otherwise – it cannot happen overnight, and investment in lower carbon emitting energies will be needed soon, to bridge the gap. To facilitate this, Government must do two things. The first, urgently move to classify alternative energy sources – in particular biomass and biogas – as low carbon transitional fuels. These are needed to reduce emissions while zero carbon energy sources are being developed for the long term. The second, invest in the evolution of existing energy distribution infrastructure – the electricity and gas grids – to make them ready to support alternative energy sources like electrification and hydrogen.”
