Unsung Britain· Tax Rising Council Tax bills and the spectre of the poll tax 17 February 2025 by Lalitha Try and Tom Clark Local government finances have long been desperately strained, caught between a sharp squeeze in grants from the centre over the austerity years, and rising obligations to social care and special educational needs. Something has to give, and in parts of the country at least it will be the established presumption against rises of over 5 … Continued READ MORE
Universal Credit· Incomes· Inequality & poverty Five takeaways from new living standards data 22 March 2024 by Adam Corlett and Lalitha Try The annual release of DWP’s Households Below Average Income (HBAI) figures is far less timely than other economic indicators and, as it is based on survey data, it is noisy. Yet, together with the ONS’s separate income survey data (expected later in Spring), it provides key insights into how living standards have changed for different … Continued READ MORE
Tax The coming tax reshuffle: winners and losers 20 November 2023 by Torsten Bell and Adam Corlett and Lalitha Try Last week, the Prime Minister carried out a major Cabinet reshuffle, aiming for a political reset as the election run-in builds up steam. This week, the Chancellor is doing his bit towards the same goal, with a major tax reshuffle – adding tax cuts to the tax rises already in train – on the cards … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty Growing inequality across Britain has left millions of families exposed to the cost-of-living crisis 25 January 2023 by Lalitha Try Today, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published their data on household incomes and inequality for 2021-22; this is the first source of official data on household incomes for that year. 2021-22 was an eventful year. It began with the UK emerging out of major restrictions on everyday life, but by October 2021, all Covid-19 … Continued READ MORE
Welfare A cut to benefits would batter millions of households Liz Truss’s threats of a real-terms cut would ramp up inequality and hamper growth 10 October 2022 by Lalitha Try The chancellor’s mini-budget has spooked the markets, stoked a rise in interest rates, and now caused a full-blown and very public cabinet row over whether to cut benefits for millions of working-age families. Some ministers are urging the prime minister to press ahead with the cut and end Britain’s “Benefit Street culture”, while others have spoken out … Continued READ MORE
