The government confirmed plans to increase VAT registration for SMEs from 1st April this year from £85,000 to £90,000, and the deregistration threshold from £83,000 to £88,000 — this is expected to take around 28,000 small businesses out of paying VAT altogether.

In addition, the chancellor will allocate £200m to extend the RLS, which will be renamed the Growth Guarantee Scheme, in order to support 11,000 small businesses to access finance.

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Alongside this, Hunt announced the cutting of National Insurance for employed workers by 2p from 10% to 8%, as well as a 2p cut for self-employed workers on top of the 1p cut from the Autumn Statement, meaning a 9% to 6% reduction for the main rate of Class 4 NICs for the self-employed from April 2024.

Capital gains tax for residential property disposal will be reduced from 28% to 24%, while lower rates will remain at 18% for gains which fall within individual basic rates bands — private residential relief will remain in place.

The government has also maintained its rates of fuel duty for a further 12 months, as well as extended the freeze on alcohol duty until 1st February 2025.

Additionally, Hunt pledged over £240m for development in Barking and Canary Wharf for the building of around 8,000 homes, as well as an additional £20m investment in social finance for the construction of up to 3,000 homes.