In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, announced £520m of long-term funding commitment for the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, an uplift to the National Institute for Health and Care Research budget, as part of more than £2bn of research and development funding, to support research in life sciences and med tech in the hopes of strengthening the UK’s clinical trial network, and an investment of over £2bn to support NHS technology and digital innovation. Overall, £20.4bn in research and development (R&D) investment was announced for 2025–2026. It was also confirmed that the Tobacco Duty escalator will be renewed and that the Vaping Product Duty will be introduced from 1 October 2026. Miranda Cass, partner, and Farhad Shahidi, senior associate, at Bristows share their views on the announcements.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, announced the government’s key priority is to fix the foundations of the economy and deliver change by protecting working people, fixing the NHS and rebuilding Britain. The key pensions announcements include: bringing unused pension funds into inheritance tax from April 2027; taking further measures to generate private investment in the economy, including creating the National Wealth Fund to catalyse over £70bn of private investment in the UK’s clean energy and growth industries, and using the Pensions Investment Review, along with the British Growth Partnership, to unlock more pension fund investment into UK growth assets; reducing tax-free overseas transfers of tax-relieved UK pensions; and maintaining the State Pension Triple Lock for the duration of the current Parliament and increasing the basic and new State Pension by 4.1% in 2025-26, in line with earnings growth.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, announced a variety of measures impacting the planning system.  The provision of new infrastructure, including through significant investment, and reform to the planning system, was pitched as one of seven pillars of how the government intends to grow the economy. Housebuilding measures, funding for transport and energy infrastructure as well as a commitment to accelerate the remediation of unsafe buildings also feature. Fiona Sawyer, professional support lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills, comments on these measures.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, made several announcements of relevance to Public Law practitioners on devolved affairs, state security and intelligence, state accountability and liability, Ukraine policy, public procurement, projects and infrastructure, state pension and trade. Paul Maile, Partner and Head of Planning and Infrastructure Consenting at Eversheds Sutherland, and Clive Weber, Consultant at Wedlake Bell, comment on the package of measures.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, announced several measures that will be of interest to restructuring and insolvency professionals. The measures include tackling rogue company directors, strengthening the powers of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to recover debt, changes to tax rules on liquidations of limited liability partnerships (LLPs), transformation of business rates and implementation of the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF) and amendments to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, announced that an AI Opportunities Action Plan will be published, the Independent Film Tax Credit can be claimed from April 2025, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) taskforce has been extended and a review into the barriers to transformative technologies will be conducted. Further, investments of £2bn into NHS innovation, £500m into Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network, £340m into the Single Intelligence Account (SIA) settlement, £3m into the Creative Careers Programme and £25m into the North East Mayoral Combined Authority (NEMCA) have been confirmed. Rosie Burbidge, partner at Gunnercooke LLP, comments on the AI Opportunities Action Plan.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, announced planned reform to public criminal justice services as well as a focus on tackling welfare fraud.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP announced several measures impacting the environment and energy sectors. These include changes to the Climate Change Levy (CCL) rates, an increase in the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) rate, the launch of a consultation on draft supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) guidance, (in light of the implications of the recent Finch judgment), tax relief measures for decommissioning payments by oil and gas companies where this is associated with asset transfers to a Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) company,  reaffirmation of funding for CCUS Track-1 projects and the successful HAR1 green hydrogen projects, funding commitment for the continued new nuclear development of Sizewell C, favourable measures in relation to Electric Vehicles (EVs) and associated charging infrastructure, confirmation that the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (UK CBAM) will be introduced from 1 January 2027 and, in respect of oil and gas companies, the reform of the Energy Profits Levy (EPL).

The chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has delivered the government’s Autumn Budget 2024. Announcements that impact the financial services sector include reform of the way carried interest is taxed, ensuring that this is in line with the economic characteristics of the reward; the government is to proceed with the introduction of the Reserved Investor Fund (Contractual Scheme); and a decision to extend the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF)’s reporting requirements to UK users.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, made several announcements of relevance to local government practitioners, including on public procurement, governance, healthcare, social housing, education, children’s social care, social care, planning and local government finance. The government noted how ‘local government is essential to the running of the country’ and how it helps to deliver vital services. Andrea Squires at Winckworth Sherwood and Amardip Healy at Blake Morgan LLP have commented on the measures announced and the impact on local government practitioners.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has delivered the Autumn Budget 2024. Areas to note for the property industry include investment in housing delivery, a stamp duty land tax increase on second homes, business rates reliefs and reform and a rise in capital gains tax rates.

Private Client analysis: At Autumn Budget 2024, it was confirmed that the remittance basis of taxation will be abolished and a residence-based regime for inheritance tax (IHT) will be introduced from 6 April 2025. Alison Cartin, Senior Counsel–Knowledge, Taylor Wessing LLP considers these reforms to the taxation of UK resident non-UK domiciled individuals (non-doms) and the practical points.