'Retirement is a worry'published at 17:09 Greenwich Mean Time 17 November 2022

17:09 GMT 17 November 2022

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

One BBC News reader tells us: Even after working in education for forty years, my pension is such that I am in fuel poverty at the £2,500 rate - never mind £3,000. How on Earth did this country end up in this dire economic state? Retirement is a worry and headache; I’ll have to go back to paid employment at the age of 68.

Recently we have seen the opposite, with lots of people retiring early which has reduced the number of people available for work. However, there may be people like you now considering going back to work.

Charities are predicting that fuel poverty will increase as a result of the rise in energy bills.

Pensioners do have some financial assistance coming down the line.

There will be a Winter Fuel Payment – which includes an extra cost-of-living payment – which is worth between £250 and £600 being paid this winter. This will be repeated next year.

Can't you be fair to everyone?published at 17:01 Greenwich Mean Time 17 November 2022

17:01 GMT 17 November 2022

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

Marc asks: Can’t you be fair to everyone? Once again the "average" household is the loser in this budget. People on higher salaries can no doubt afford higher energy bills & lower-income families are receiving help once more. Average income families receive no further help and have to fend for ourselves.

This is essentially a political choice but, yes, the “squeezed middle” as they are sometimes called have been hit by the rising cost of living.

The chancellor, and the prime minister, have made it clear they aim to tackle inflation (the rate of rising prices), while protecting the most vulnerable.

There will be no repeat of the universal £400 rebate on energy bills, but a - less generous - cap on energy bills will be in place for a year from April.

Expect plenty more debate about who should, or should not, qualify for help with energy bills.

Image source, .

We'll be joined by the BBC's cost of living correspondent Kevin Peachey shortly.

Your questions have been coming in thick and fast and he'll be on hand to help you make sense of what was announced in the chancellor's Autumn Statement.

Stick with us as we rattle through them.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

Sarah is a volunteer at a food pantry near Gloucester - members pay a small subscription fee in return for choosing the groceries they want.

She says she's noticed a change in the types of people that have started using the facility.

“We've got pensioners coming in, we've got young mothers, single parents, people working,” she said.

She says a lot of people say they use it because they struggle to ask for help elsewhere.

"I notice people are coming in couples now as well and making friends - they look forward to coming in. We have quite a laugh, actually, now we've got regulars."

She said there should be more food banks across the country because she can’t see the problem improving in the near future.

"People are struggling but luckily we're a good community and you notice that when you come here. You come inside, you come in hungry and cold and you go out happy."

Image source, PA Media

Paul Johnson, director of the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, has weighed in on the chancellor's Autumn Statement, describing it as a "sombre affair" after global energy prices "made the UK a poorer country".

He points out that the chancellor has had to loosen his self-imposed rules on government borrowing and debt because of some "harsh fiscal realities" seen in the wake of Truss and Kwarteng's mini-budget.

He adds that the bulk of spending cuts introduced to help the chancellor meet his new targets are pencilled in for after April 2025, which he says is "probably the right choice", given the uncertainty ahead.

"But delaying all of the difficult decisions until after the next general election does cast doubt on the credibility of these plans.

"The chancellor will be hoping that his clear commitment to fiscal responsibility and the independence of the Bank of England, his full involvement of the Office for Budget Responsibility... will be enough to restore the UK’s tattered international reputation. Let’s hope so."

As you'll no doubt know by now, one of the chancellor's big moves is to continue offering help with energy bills. But what will that mean for you?

The energy price guarantee - which limits how much energy firms can charge per unit of energy - will continue for a further 12 months after April, but at a reduced level.

At present, a household in England, Scotland and Wales using a typical amount of energy currently should pay £2,500 a year - although households which use more energy or those not on direct debit could end up paying more.

From April that “typical” bill will rise to £3,000.

The chancellor has also outlined some extra support for vulnerable households.

Here are the details.

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Image source, Getty Images

We've been hearing more from the Office for Budget Responsibility on changes to council tax bills in England.

Currently, local councils must hold referendums if they want to increase council tax by more than 3%, but the chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement he will raise this to 5%.

The independent forecasters have said that could see the average Band D council tax bill rise by £250 a year - raising £3.3bn for the government in the 2026 financial year.

Councillor James Jamieson, the chairman of the Local Government Association said that councils recognise "it will be residents and businesses who will be asked to pay more", even as prices things like food, energy rise too.

He added: "We have been clear that council tax has never been the solution to meeting the long-term pressures facing services - particularly high-demand services like adult social care, child protection and homelessness prevention."

Rating agency Moody's has said the chancellor's plan goes some way to restoring the country's economic credibility.

However, it said that risks remain due to the tough outlook, warning that the divided political scene risks undermining the government's efforts to deliver.

Moody’s vice president said that what was presented today demonstrates the UK's "commitment to fiscal prudence" after the disastrous mini-budget set out by the Truss government in September.

But Moody's pointed out that "the polarised domestic political environment and heightened policy unpredictability may undermine efforts to deliver on fiscal consolidation, particularly in light of strong social and political pressures on government spending."

Ione Wells
Political correspondent

The former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he is "particularly concerned" about tax rises when the economy is going into recession.

Votes on tax changes and budgets are usually seen as a de facto "vote of confidence" in the government itself, so we shouldn’t necessarily overegg the impact some of this unease may have on the government’s plans.

It's unlikely many Tory MPs will vote against the government’s plans because it will be seen as a test of loyalty.

However, it’s fair to say - particularly on the right of the Tory party - tax rises will be causing unease and we could see more of them become vocal on this.

Image source, Getty Images

We're starting to hear some reaction from business groups and trade bodies on what they thought of the chancellor's Autumn Statement.

Shevaun Haviland, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce questioned its wider impact: "In the teeth of a recession, this statement will not increase business confidence."

Although she said firms would welcome help with business rates, she called for more clarity on what support they will get with energy bills in the future.

She said that half of businesses the organisation recently surveyed said they would find it difficult to pay their energy bills once the current support comes to an end on 31 March.

“It is good to hear plans to improve energy efficiency across the economy," she added. "But we need to see greater urgency as firms battle with their bills in the here and now.

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

Also in Gloucester is Jane Fletcher, who showed me around her house in Longlevens. Along with husband John, the couple have introduced a range of hacks around the home to save money.

From putting thermal foil sheets behind all their radiators to using a “one cup” instead of a kettle, they have noticed a big reduction in their bills compared to last year.

And it’s not because they are hard up, Jane admits they are not feeling the squeeze, she tells me its about being savvy and not letting the rich get richer.

The 67-year-old says: “I think it’s horrendous that the fat cats are always getting lots of cream and the people who really need the help don’t get enough help. I know quite a few people who struggle - it’s hard for them.

“I think they get massive bonuses and they all get too much.

“It is not that we can’t afford it, we can, but I am not going to pay these inflated prices.

“We have made some small subtle changes and we are really pleased, we are going to see some savings.”

Katie Thompson
BBC News

The BBC is in Gloucester today, speaking to people there about how the Autumn Statement affects them.

Callum Hardman, 22, is a supervisor at a non-profit community café, and rents a one-bedroom flat in the city centre with his partner, which costs £700 a month.

Despite using apps to try and budget, he says he lives “pay cheque to pay cheque”.

“The bills all come out at the start of the month and most of it is gone within the first few days of me being paid,” he says.

“Everything is a scrupulous process of ‘how can we make this the cheapest that we can’ and ‘how am I going to be able to put things away for a rainy day’.

“I’m already saving for Christmas to try and make sure I can even afford anything for anybody.”

Callum is also learning to drive and lessons don't come cheap - costing £35 an hour.

“Between trying to push myself to get all those boxes ticked I won't have money by the end of the month,” he says.

He thinks criticism of the younger generation being bad with money is “unfair”.

“I could definitely be more careful but at the same time I think this criticism of young people saying ‘they don’t know how’ (to save), I just don’t think that’s fair because actually this is the first time that any generation has had to face everything being quite so expensive,” he says.

Markets are calm after ambitious growth forecastspublished at 14:44 Greenwich Mean Time 17 November 2022

14:44 GMT 17 November 2022

Simon Jack
Business editor

Energy producers were bracing themselves for a raid on their profits and the government duly arrived with a big expansion of windfall taxes.

In total, the government is banking on them to stump up £14 billion next year alone and nearly £60 billion over the next 5 years.

More generally businesses may be disappointed that the chancellor did not provide any new major tax incentives to drive growth and there was little mention of so called "supply side" reforms like easing rules on planning and immigration.

As one business leader told the BBC, the growth assumptions in todays forecasts for the year 2027 look very ambitious indeed.

But the markets were calm and that will be a comfort to business as well as the chancellor.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

Image source, EPA

There was a lot in that speech which will affect the money in your pocket - and later I'll be here to answer any questions you may have.

The measures range from a whole new set of cost of living payments to key decisions on allowances before you pay various taxes, such as income tax.

Benefits and the state pension will rise in April in line with inflation - a 10.1% increase that reflects the higher prices people are paying now.

But, ultimately, there are calculations from the government's official forecaster that show living standards will drop this year at a level not seen since comparable records began in the 1950s.

You can read the full story here.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is giving a press briefing, going through the highlights of its latest economic and fiscal forecast.

Richard Hughes, chair of the OBR, opened by saying: "Like all of our forecasts over the last two and a half years, this forecast was prepared against the backdrop of an extraordinary degree of volatility and uncertainty.

He said, however, unlike in those previous forecasts, some of that uncertainty was "home grown – with successive revisions to the timetable, process, and direction of fiscal policymaking".

He said the most important economic development since its last forecast has been the deepening of the European energy crisis precipitated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

You can read the OBR's full analysis here., external

Chris Mason
Political editor

Budgets usually have a theatrical triumphalism, at least in parts. Not today.

It isn't even eight weeks since the former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's so-called mini-Budget. He set out tax cuts of around £30bn.

Now his successor Jeremy Hunt has set out tax rises and spending cuts of around £54bn. An astonishing about turn for the same party in 55 days.

Hunt wants to raise more revenue in tax without raising taxes. He has done this by imposing an ice age on tax thresholds, and the best paid will pay considerable more tax too.

There will be a huge increase in windfall taxes.

And the state pension and all benefits will increase in line with inflation - an expensive choice. And there will be a big increase in the National Living Wage.

Hunt will hope these measures, alongside his plans for education in England and the NHS, will fend off accusations of another era of austerity.

But plenty of government departments face lean years ahead, with inflation pickpocketing their spending power.

And yes, the plans suggest very tight spending after the next election, whoever is in government.

Image source, .

We'll be joined by the BBC's cost of living correspondent Kevin Peachey later this afternoon.

He will be answering your questions on what the Autumn Statement means for you. This is your chance to ask us anything to help you make sense of the announcements – and no question is a silly question.

Send in any questions you have at the top of the page and we'll answer as many as we can. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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Ione Wells
Political correspondent

Short of any unforeseen events, the economic blame game will define the next election campaign.

Jeremy Hunt has conceded that people’s disposable incomes will fall, as confirmed by the OBR’s assessment of the government’s plans.

But he accuses his critics of being detached from reality when they argue this was the Tory government’s making.

He argues the opposition cannot claim economic problems are not to do with Covid or the war in Ukraine, but it’s much harder for the government to deny that some economic problems - such as high interest rates on people’s mortgages - are not in part caused by political decisions that spooked economic markets.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge addresses the chancellor about his statement and his pledge to be fair in protecting the vulnerable.

The MP for Barking says those claims were false and actually his measures entrench inequality,

Freezing income tax bands disproportionately affects lower income workers and cuts to public services hurt the poorest and most vulnerable, she adds.

Hunt had choices, why could he not tax income enjoyed from wealth at the same rate as income earned from work? Hodge asks.

"Does the chancellor not accept that his callous cuts and his harsh hikes will do nothing to fix our unfair tax system?" she concludes.

Jeremy Hunt says he has pledged £11bn increases for the NHS and schools, also stating that he has increased taxes for those on the highest incomes.

"We have also published distributional analysis that shows the impact of all these decisions and they show the biggest gainers are those on low incomes," he adds.