Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his Spring Budget today and four money experts have shared their thoughts on the announcements made this afternoon.
Dubbed the "Back to Work" budget, the Chancellor set out a number of major plans to help parents, older people and those off work with disabilities to return to work as well as announcements on benefits, pensions, petrol and pubs.
One of the "standout" announcements was the reforms around childcare with the policy of 30 hours of free weekly childcare to be extended to cover children below the age of three, and then eventually to those aged nine months.
Alongside this, the Government confirmed that it was to keep its Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) at £2,500 until July this year and that the 5p fuel duty cut will remain in place and will be frozen at the current level for the next 12 months.
They also announced that the Pension Lifetime Allowance (LTA), which is the limit on how much you can build up in pension benefits over your lifetime, has been scrapped completely.
Mirror Money has rounded up the thoughts on the 2023 Spring Budget from four money and personal finance experts.
Lynn Beattie, MrsMummyPenny: 'Not many changes to affect us in a positive way'
Lynn Beattie, personal finance writer at MsMummyPenny said: "I am really pleased to see that the Government is going to extend the free childcare scheme to 1 to 2 years olds.
"The costs of childcare are huge and this will certainly encourage particularly new mums to return to work now that it’s more financially viable.
"It was also great to see that childcare costs for those on universal credit will be paid upfront rather than parents having to pay then reclaim, often leading them into debt.
The energy price cap remaining at £2,500 had to happen. Wholesale prices have dropped which needed to be reflected in the energy price cap.
"April will still feel painful with the £400 or £67 a month energy credit scheme ending. I hope to see this price cap starts to reduce in the future as energy prices are expected to fall further.
"Thankfully also the fuel duty cut of 5p stays in place for another year.
A lot has been made of the pensions lifetime allowance cap being removed, but in reality, this affects such a small segment of the UK and is limited to high earners. It certainly won’t help with the cost of living crisis.
"Overall it feels like a non-event Budget. Not many changes to affect us in a positive way to put more money into our pockets to support as the cost-of-living crisis continues."
Alice Haine, Bestinvest: 'The number set to pay income tax at higher rates will skyrocket'
Alice Haine, Personal Finance Analyst at Bestinvest said: "Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had some wiggle room for his Budget today, which is why most of his measures focused on getting Britons back into work to deliver a vital boost to the country’s growth outlook.
"Hunt’s bid to drive more working-age Britons back into the workplace to plug the more than one million job vacancies and reduce the high levels of inactivity blighting the country’s economic output was key from a personal finance point of view.
"Big moves included extending childcare support, improving benefits for those with disabilities, radically reforming pension allowances to encourage more over-50s to stay in work, scrapping a planned rise to energy bills and freezing fuel duty.
"While the measures will go some way to easing the effects of the cost-of-living crisis and ensuring more Britons return to the labour market, the sting in the tail is that the frozen or reduced income tax thresholds – first unveiled at the Autumn Statement – are here to stay.
"This means the numbers set to pay income tax at higher rates will skyrocket at a time when people are already feeling the squeeze from rising prices and higher borrowing costs."
"A record 6.1million people are already paying the higher and additional rates of income tax, of 40% and 45% respectively, this financial year – an increase of 15.3% on the 2021-22 tax year - a figure that will only escalate as the effects of fiscal drag - where the income level at which taxes are collected does not increase in line with inflation or income growth - takes hold."
Helen Morrissey - Hargreaves Lansdown: 'The Chancellor has simplified the pension system for everyone'
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown said: "The Chancellor surpassed all our expectations today by abolishing the lifetime allowance.
"This much maligned rule has been a check on investment performance and its removal is extremely welcome.
"People still need to remain mindful of the annual allowance which has been boosted to £60,000 per year but these changes bring a breath of fresh air to retirement planning that had been hugely complicated by the presence of restrictions on how much you can contribute and how much you can accumulate in a pension.
"At one stroke the Chancellor has simplified the pension system for everyone, not just higher earners.
"Tax-free cash will be capped at 25% of the current lifetime allowance but this still means people can benefit from over £268,000 so it is still a powerful benefit.
"Changes to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance are also welcome.
"People returning to the workforce after flexibly accessing their money purchase pension had been restricted to annual contributions of just £4,000 per year.
"This was a major barrier for those looking to rebuild their pensions and the decision to increase it to £10,000 per year gives people significantly more room to rebuild their retirement resilience.”
Laura Suter - AJ Bell: 'Many parents of toddlers today will miss out'
Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell commented: “Parenting WhatsApp groups across the nation will be pinging with joy with the news that free childcare hours are being extended, with parents being able to claim from the time their child is nine months old.
“This move will remove the huge barrier for many in returning to work, as often childcare fees are more than they earn.
"This is a policy that will specifically boost women, who are typically the ones who drop out of the workforce to be a full-time parent.
"We know that these career gaps are big contributors to the huge gender wealth gap, from earnings to savings to pensions.
"If those women who want to work can afford to return to paid employment, it will not only boost the economy but the pockets of families across the country.
“The devil in the detail is that the support will be staggered, with the full scheme not brought in for another two and a half years, meaning that many parents of toddlers today will miss out and the biggest benefit will be for parents of children not even conceived yet.
"From April next year parents of two-year-olds will get 15 free hours, while those with younger children will have to wait until September next year to get the 15 free hours before the full 30 hours is brought in in September 2025.
“What’s also key is that the Government is increasing what it pays nurseries for these free hours.
"Until now the ‘free’ hours have been anything but, with the government paying such a low sum for the hours that most nurseries are forced to construct a patchwork of charges for parents to make up the shortfall.
"The Government says it will allocate another £204million from September this year to boost the amount paid to nurseries – although it’s unclear if this is sufficient to bridge the entire funding shortfall or if parents will still have to top up."
