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- By Shelley Phelps & Catrin Haf Jones
- BBC Wales Westminster correspondents
Image source, TOBY MELVILLE
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will present his tax and spending plans to MPs
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will present his tax and spending plans to MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Always a key moment in the political calendar, it will face particular scrutiny this year over how it might help with the squeeze on incomes from a continuing cost of living crisis.
But what might the Budget mean for Wales?
Here are five things to look out for.
Energy support
Image source, Getty Images
It had been due to rise to £3,000 on 1 April.
David Phillips, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said the energy price cap was important to Wales for two reasons.
“First, homes in Wales are, on average, less energy-efficient than in the rest of the UK, in part because they were often built many years ago.
“Second, the lower average incomes in Wales mean energy bills take up a larger share of households’ income than in more affluent parts of the UK.”
Most households have been getting a one-off £400 discount on their fuel bills between October 2022 and March 2023, paid in monthly instalments, but there are no signs of that support being repeated.
Plaid Cymru is calling on Mr Hunt to provide more support for homes and businesses relying on heating oil or liquefied petroleum gas.
Childcare and changes to benefits
Image source, Getty Images
Some 290,000 people in Wales are on universal credit, according to the latest figures from the Department of Work and Pensions.
Families on universal credit will receive childcare costs upfront rather than having to claim it back.
Citizens Advice Cymru welcomed the move and said it would help remove financial stress.
This is being called the “back to work” budget, and there will also be more of an expectation placed on benefit claimants to look for work or increase their hours.
Some people could also be asked to attend more meetings with a work coach.
The chancellor is also set to outline plans to scrap the scrap the work capability assessment (WCA).
Simon Hatch, director of Citizens Advice Cymru, said the WCA had “long been a source of pain and delay in the benefits system”.
But changes must be accompanied by “a package of support to enable people to work rather than sanctioning those who are trying their best to get by during a cost of living crisis,” he added.
Equivalent funding is expected to be announced for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Image source, Getty Images
The Welsh government is calling for increased funding for public services.
Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said: “The chancellor should use this opportunity to increase public spending to ensure public sector workers are paid a fair wage and services are able to respond to post-Covid pandemic pressures and the cost of living crisis.”
If the UK government announces extra funding to improve pay awards for teachers and NHS workers in England then that would mean additional money for the Welsh government.
UK ministers continue to speak to trade unions to try to resolve industrial action in England, but have said the kind of wage rises being asked for are “unaffordable”.
Fuel duty
Image source, Getty Images
The chancellor is under pressure to keep the fuel duty freeze.
It is also a key request from the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales, which has said firms reporting a rise in business expenses have told them fuel is one of the main contributors.
Nuclear investment
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Wylfa, on Anglesey, has been identified as a potential site for a new nuclear project
We know that Jeremy Hunt is looking to boost nuclear power as part of his plans for a “clean energy reset”.
He is expected to confirm the next steps for Great British Nuclear (GBN).
That is the body due to be set up to oversee the delivery of new power plants to meet the aim for nuclear to provide 25% of electricity by 2050. A key question is how much funding GBN gets.
A competition to build small nuclear plants in the UK – so-called small modular reactors (SMRs) – has also been pledged.
Earlier this month, Welsh Affairs Committee chairman Stephen Crabb urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to end “uncertainty” over whether a new nuclear power station will be built at Wylfa, on Anglesey.
The UK government has identified Wylfa as a potential site for a new nuclear project. But in a letter to the PM, Mr Crabb highlighted concerns over “a loss of momentum”.
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