5 hours to go until we get to know exactly what the Autumn Budget has in store for us.

At around 12.30pm today Rachel Reeves will stand at the dispatch box in the House of Commons and deliver the Labour Government’s Budget Statement. It will be the first from a Labour Chancellor for 14 years. It also marks another landmark first as it will be the first Budget Statement delivered by a woman Chancellor.

The Budget Statement will outline spending plans for the rest of 2024/5 and set out the 2025/6 spending review process. Plans for 2026/7 and 2027/8 will be set out in the Spring Budget next year.

Today will see the changes that the new government wants to make to Health and Social Care, Education, the Police and other Public Services. It will also outline how Labour intends to pay for these plans, where taxes will rise and by how much and also where cuts will need to fall.

Much has been said in the press and on social media about what we should expect in Labour’s Budget plans, most of it is speculation. The problem with this is that folk often remember the speculation and not the facts that will unfold on Wednesday which is why I am not going to make any comment until I have heard what Rachel Reeves has to say when she addresses MPs in the Commons.

We should also remember that the Budget Statement is just the start of a scrutiny process though some measures, such as any changes to the duty on alcohol and tobacco, come into effect on Budget day or soon after.

In order to make these changes before the actual Finance Bill is passed, the House of Commons has to approve a motion for the provisional collection of these taxes. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee puts a single motion to the Commons asking for agreement to these changes. By tradition this is agreed to by the Commons, allowing the changes to come into effect at 6pm on Budget day.

The Leader of the Opposition followed by Leaders of the other Political Parties will respond to the Budget Statement. There then follows four days of debate. If Parliament agrees the budget proposals, they provisionally come into effect. But it requires the passing of the Finance Bill to bring it into law. Once the Commons has agreed the Budget Resolutions, the Finance Bill will start making its way through Parliament in much the same way as any other bill.

The House of Commons has the sole right to make amendments to bills such as this which authorise spending and levy taxes, so the House of Lords has a limited role to play in the passage of this bill. They will look in some detail at certain aspects of the Budget but won’t be able to amend it in any way.

The passage of the Finance Bill through its various stages can take up to three, maybe four months. However, after today the speculation will end, supposition will turn to fact as Labour unfolds its plans on delivering its manifesto pledges over the course of this Parliament.

We live in interesting times.

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