Darling Budget and Northern Ireland: Treasury View

Higher taxes spending cuts and the first Carbon budget with a target of 34% carbon reductions by 2020, £435M for energy efficiency, £525m for offshore wind and £405m for small scale projects. Below the HM Treasury Summary for NI

Budget 2009 for Northern Ireland
Today the Chancellor has announced a package of measures to help
business, families, and pensioners in these unprecedented economic times.
These include:
• A package of measures for business, including the introduction of an
enhanced first-year capital allowance of 40% for one year, introduced with
effect from April 2009.
• support for individuals, including through an increase in the annual
investment limit for Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) to £10,200, up to
£5,100 of which can be saved in cash;
• support for homeowners and homebuyers, including an extension of the
stamp duty holiday for all houses costing up to £175,000 until the end of
the year;
• £5 billion recoverable value for money savings in 2011-11 raising the 2007
Comprehensive Spending Review target from £30 billion to £35 billion, and
in the next Spending Review period, additional efficiencies to help support
the economy and front-line services, rising to £9 billion by 2013-14. The
Budget sets assumptions for spending growth from 2011-12 onwards, with
current spending growing by an average 0.7 per cent in real terms and
public sector net investment moving to 1¼ per cent of GDP by 2013-14;
• support for the environment, including setting the world’s first carbon
budgets and measures to encourage energy efficiency and low-carbon
growth;
• additional provision of £143 million for the Northern Ireland Executive as a
consequence of additional provision for UK Government departments.
This April a number of important changes for families and individuals came
into effect:
o 600,000 basic rate tax payers in Northern Ireland will be £145 better
off;
o increases to the child element of Child Tax Credit of £75 above
indexation will benefit around 130,000 families in Northern Ireland;
o The introduction of the new £190 health in pregnancy grant will
benefit the estimated 25,000 mothers to be in Northern Ireland this
year.

BUDGET 2009
The Pre Budget report also announced changes to help the economy. And
these are now delivering. For Northern Ireland, over 3,140 businesses have
benefited from being able to spread payments of tax, and the enterprise
finance guarantee scheme has ensured that viable SME’s continue to access
finance they require in Northern Ireland.