Residents of Strachan House Care Home were treated to an afternoon of cocktail themed fun as we invited the local community to join us for ‘Pimm’s O Clock’
The afternoon featured a live musical performance by the talented singer Kirsty Duncan.
The Homes lounge buzzed with excitement as Kirsty took centre stage, delivering a brilliant and energetic repertoire of hit favourites spanning decades.
Residents and guests sipped on classic Pimm’s cups as their toes tapped along to the music.
General Manager at Strachan House, Fran Fisher said: “Our residents deserve moments of joy and connection,” said Fran Fisher, Home Manager at Strachan House. “Kirsty’s performance was a testament to the power of music in brightening lives.”
Strachan House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Stamford Bridge Beaumont provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care from respite care to long term stays.
The Scottish Ambulance Service’s specialist transport and retrieval service (ScotSTAR) is celebrating ten years of providing life-saving care to some of Scotland’s most vulnerable patients.
ScotSTAR is a multi-disciplinary team of paramedics, nurses, advanced practitioners, and doctors supported by pilots working together to provide specialist care to seriously ill babies, children and adults across Scotland using specialist helicopters and planes.
In 2022/23 ScotSTAR provided specialist care for 3158 seriously ill children and adults with the air ambulance crews attending 4527 incidents – an increase of 10% from the year before.
Mum Amie Taylor, of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, said ScotSTAR provided an invaluable service to her very sick son, Jackson, who was born four weeks prematurely in 2022.
Jackson was placed in a ventilator and had to be transported from Aberdeen to Edinburgh with the help of ScotSTAR staff, Dr Mark Worrall, Paediatric Consultant, and Ashley Daye, Paediatric Retrieval Nurse.
School teacher Amie said: “The retrieval team take the skills of the paediatric intensive care unit on the road and knowing that these specialists were incredibly skilled gave us so much peace knowing that Jackson was being well looked after. I just want to say a massive thank you for how they made me feel on the day. We felt incredibly well supported and cared for.”
“I am pleased to say he is a very happy and charismatic cheeky wee boy. He has been through more in his little life that some people encounter in a lifetime. He is strong, resilient and a fighter we are beyond proud of.”
Michael Dickson, Scottish Ambulance Service Chief Executive said: “ScotSTAR is an integral part of Scottish Ambulance Service and is critical to our ability to reach every part of Scotland.
“I’m delighted to be marking its 10th anniversary and I’d like to stay a big thank you to our staff who deliver this vital service for critically ill patients across Scotland, often in very challenging circumstances.
“They are all a credit to the Scottish Ambulance Service.”
29 million workers receive largest ever cut to National Insurance
Government is sticking to its economic plan and rewarding hard work in this month’s pay packet, with over £900 a year boost for typical worker
Signals government’s long-term ambition to end unfair double tax on work
29 million workers will see their hard work rewarded from tomorrow (6 April), as record tax cuts come into full force.
Since Autumn 2023, National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for workers have been slashed by a third – the largest cut to NICs in history – with a longer-term ambition to end the unfair double tax on work and abolish employee and self-employed NICs altogether.
Since January, the main rate of employee National Insurance has been cut for 27 million workers from 12% to 8%, saving the average employee on £35,400 over £900 a year.
Over 2 million self-employed people will benefit from the main rate of Class 4 NICs being cut from 9% to 6% alongside the abolition of the requirement to pay Class 2 NICs – simplifying the tax system and saving an average self-employed person on £28,000 over £650 a year.
These cuts are possible because the economy is turning a corner, thanks to the government’s decisive action to bring inflation down from 11.1% to 3.4% and ensure borrowing costs start to fall. Because of this progress, the government can now cut taxes to reward work and grow the economy.
The tax cuts – worth £20 billion a year – mean that those individuals on average salaries will now pay less in personal taxes than they would in any other G7 country.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:“Hard work is one of my core values, and the progress we have made on the economy means we can reward work with a tax cut worth £900 for the average earner.
“This marks the next step in our plan to end the unfairness of double taxation of work by abolishing National Insurance in the long term.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, said:“The record tax cuts taking effect tomorrow show our economic plan is working – because of the progress we’ve made we’re putting hundreds of pounds a year back into the pockets of working people across the country.
“It shows we stand behind those who work hard and fires the starting gun on our long-term ambition to end the unfair double tax on work.”
The tax cuts will also help grow the economy by bringing more people into the labour market. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects that, as a result of these combined cuts, total hours worked will increase by the equivalent of almost 200,000 full-time workers by 2028-29.
To mark the record cuts to NICs, HMRC has launched an updated online tool to help people understand how much they personally could save in National Insurance this year.
They come into effect on the same day as an increase to the income threshold at which the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) starts – from £50,000 to £60,000 – taking 170,000 families out of paying the charge altogether.
The rate at which the HICBC is charged will also be halved from 1% of the Child Benefit payment for every additional £100 earnt above the threshold, to 1% for every £200, meaning Child Benefit will not be withdrawn in full until individuals earn £80,000 or higher.
As a result of these changes, 485,000 hard-working families will gain an average of £1,260 towards the costs of raising their children in 2024/25.
The government has also committed to consulting in due course on administering the HICBC on a household basis by April 2026, in recognition of how charging on an individual basis can sometimes lead to unfair outcomes, in particular for single parents and single earner families.
These changes to support hard-working families follow a raft of measures that came into force on 1 April that could save households up to £3,850 a year on average to help those struggling with cost-of-living while igniting the economy.
This includes a record increase in the National Living Wage from £10.42 an hour to £11.44, and a 12.3% drop in energy bills from the previous quarter. In addition, households can benefit from a separate increase to the Local Housing Allowance that will mean some of the poorest families on either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit will gain £800 a year on average.
And on Monday 8 April, the government will stand by its commitment to maintain the Triple Lock by raising the full basic State Pension by 8.5% to almost £170 a week, after the largest ever cash increase last year.
Changes like the introduction of the Triple Lock and new State Pension have meant pensioners are on average £1,000 better off than in 2010, according to the Resolution Foundation.
Fort Kinnaird has announced that a brand new Home Bargains store is set to join the centre later this year.
The variety store chain will bring its wide selection of discounted items and brands to the centre, including household goods, food, clothing and toys.
The popular chain will be opening its new 18,500 sq ft space next to Superdrug.
Liam Smith, centre director at Fort Kinnaird, said: “We’re really pleased that Home Bargains has chosen Fort Kinnaird as the location of its next store opening.
“We know the retailer is a firm family favourite with so many staples at an affordable price and I’m sure it’ll prove popular with our shoppers.”
Home Bargains will join a range of other retailers at Fort Kinnaird, including M&S, NEXT and JD Sports.
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves” – Edmund Hillary
An inspirational group of child abuse survivors, supported by friends and family, are raising awareness and funds for child protection charity the NSPCC by climbing Mount Everest.
Giles Moffatt (51), a survivor of physical abuse as a young boy at boarding school, is one of 12 men and women in ‘Team Uprising’ who have travelled to Nepal to trek 150km at ultra-high altitude on the world’s highest mountain.
Giles spoke about the cruel and abusive behaviour he experienced while he was a pupil at Edinburgh Academy when he gave evidence at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh last year.
Giles now wants to turn his negative childhood experiences into something positive by raising money for the NSPCC and awareness of the impact of abuse.
In preparation for the inquiry Giles set up a survivors’ group which now has over 70 members, and when he said he would like to climb Everest to raise money for the NSPCC, several members wanted to join him.
The team will trek over nine days to Everest Base Camp together, and then Giles will continue with fellow Edinburgh Academy abuse survivors Neil MacDonald and Neil Russell and their good friends and supporters, Andy Leslie and Mitch Smith, to undertake an ice climb to the 6,119-metre summit of Lobuche.
Giles and Andy will carry on even higher through the heart of the Himalayas with legendary mountaineer and guide, Ang Tshering Lama, who has climbed Everest five times, with the aim of reaching the summit of Everest by the end of May.
On the expedition they will have to contend with altitude sickness, the treacherous Khumbu icefall and on summit day what is referred to as the mountain’s ‘Death Zone’ where there is not enough oxygen to survive, and they will carry specialist equipment to assist them.
The funds they raise will go towards supporting NSPCC services. These include Childline, the charity’s free counselling service for children, the adult Helpline for reporting concerns about a child and the charity’s educational programmes, such as Talk PANTS and Speak Out Stay Safe, which aim to help prevent child abuse and neglect.
Giles Moffatt
Giles, who lives in Rye, East Sussex, said: “Childhood abuse causes mental health problems, addictions, self-harm, low self-worth, anxiety, relationship and work problems throughout life.
“We want to use our own negative childhood experiences to help other children who have been abused, and those who may be at risk, and raise awareness of the wide-ranging and long-lasting impact of childhood abuse.
“This trip is part climbing, part fundraising, part therapy.
“We can’t change our past, but we can do something to prevent other children from experiencing the horrors that we endured. We want a zero-tolerance of any form of abuse of children and hope to inspire others to have the courage to speak up and seek support.”
Another member of Team Uprising, Neil Russell (67), also gave evidence at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh last year about his experience of physical, sexual and emotional abuse when he was a pupil at Edinburgh Academy.
The main perpetrator of Neil’s abuse was Hamish Dawson, who died in 2009. At the inquiry Dawson was accused of multiple instances of emotional and physical abuse on young boys at the school, some of which Neil experienced and witnessed.
Neil, who lives in Bedfordshire but plans to move to Perthshire this year, said: “Dawson would beat all the boys if something happened, and no one confessed. The incidents of abuse by Dawson have haunted me and tormented my mind throughout my life.
“The habitual and extreme violence have stayed with me. It took me two years of psychotherapy before I was even able to say his name.”
Neil has struggled with the impact of the abuse throughout his adult life. It has caused him difficulties with his mental health, including severe depression and anxiety, emotional and physical breakdowns and he has attempted suicide. He has also struggled to maintain relationships, including previous marriages, because he finds it hard to trust people.
‘Team Uprising’ also includes former pupils Frazer Macdonald, Graeme Sneddon, Adrian Blakemore, Niall Mackinlay, and friends and family Cat Bolten, Rachel Leslie, Andrea Christensen, Jacob Christensen.
They would like to thank Ooni Pizza Ovens, Tiso and Thermos, the Altitude Centre in London, Lindores Abbey Distillery and ‘Taking the Pea’ snacks for their financial support.
Young people looking for support can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or visit Childline.org.uk. Childline is available to all young people until their 19th birthday.
Any adult concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@NSPCC.org.uk. But should call the police on 999 straight away if they think a child is in immediate danger.
Edinburgh Central Library, 7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG
A new exhibition displaying over 100 items on loan from public and private collections of world traditional dance books and artefacts, opened today as part of this year’s Pomegranates Festival in Edinburgh.
Portrait of dance artist Ella Moore wearing a Ukrainian headdress and scarf featured in the exhibition. Commissioned by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland for the inaugural Pomegranates festival in April 2022 by floral artist Fiona Rose Gregory. Photo by Iliyana Nedkova
Dance Around the World will feature items from over 20 different countries including Scotland, Greece, Estonia, Poland, Bali and Japan. Highlights include a Ukrainian headdress commissioned by the festival in 2022 in tribute to the millions of displaced Ukrainians around the world (pictured above); an original Estonian dance dolly ‘rescued’ from a Finnish flea market and a full outfit worn at Scottish country dances since 1978 by a lifetime member of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.
This year’s festival commission is a Barbie doll clad in a tartan frock by festival’s fashion designer-in-residence Alison Harm of Edinburgh’s Psychomoda brand. (Alison Harm’s solo exhibition of sustainable tartan exploring the role of tartan in Scottish trad dance is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre 23-30 April.)
Barbie in Highland Dance Dress – Commissioned by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland for Pomegranates Festival 2024. Outfit by Alison Harm of Psychomoda.
Alongside the numerous books on display selected from five private collections, as well as the catalogue of the Edinburgh City Libraries, visitors will revel in rare artefacts, including a pair of exquisite lacquer Geta shoes and an Obi bow and sash worn as part of the traditional wrap-around costumes for the Bon Odori summer dance festivals in Japan, and at the inaugural Pomegranates festival in Scotland.
Amongst the heirlooms in the exhibition is a silver brooch with a Viking ship motif which used to adorn the trad dance and song costume of the Estonian grandmother of the festival’s artist-in-residence Mare Tralla.
Mare, who co-curated Dance Around the World is a Scottish Estonian artist and activist currently working and living in Edinburgh. Her professional art career started in Tallinn in the early 1990s, where she became one of the leading interdisciplinary artists of the younger generation, conducting a feminist revolution in the field of contemporary art in Estonia.
Mare combines a variety of media in her work, from video, photography and painting to performance and interactivity. She also often utilises traditional crafts like knitting and weaving in her practice, including through her long-term craft projectNatty Peeps.
Artist-in-residence and co-curator Mare Tralla said: “I am so grateful for the opportunity to co-curate the Dance Around the World exhibition in collaboration with this year’s Pomegranates Festival and Edinburgh City Libraries and to offer hands-on craft workshops.
“I hope that any craft enthusiasts will join me to seek inspiration from the new exhibition to make our own costume jewellery and homeware while tracing the importance of tassels and pom-poms across the trad dance costumes from all corners of the world, including the sporran in the show”.
Edinburgh-based dance artist and art historian who is one of the major contributors to the exhibition Agnes Ness said: “I was so excited to go through my own library, photo albums and memorabilia and select a range of books, postcards and medals for the Dance Around the World exhibition.
“A wee testimony of my lifelong passion for art history and dance which dates back to my childhood spent in competitive Highland dance in the 1950s, leading to my current adventures as a teacher in Dance History at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for dance where I am a founding member of the 24 Carat Gold Dance Group for those aged 60 and above.”
Iliyana Nedkova and Wendy Timmons, Pomegranates Festival Co-curators said: “Our collaboration with Edinburgh Libraries began in June 2023 when we brought live trad dance to the library, possibly for the first time, while celebrating the feisty women-tradition keepers and dance innovators as part of the 10th anniversary of the Harpies, Fechters and Quines Festival.
“We even recorded live in the George Washington Browne Room one of our Trad Dance Cast video podcast episodes with the legendary trad dance artist and costume designer Margaret Belford, 85.
“It was then when we pencilled and penned our love letter to the library – this very dance exhibition and all the related festival activities, including the craft workshops and walking tours.”
Dance Around the World
3rd to 30th April 2024, Open Mon-Wed 10am-8pm, Thu-Sat 10am-5pm, Closed Sun Central Library, 7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG
This exhibition is part of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and TRACS’s programme of events showcasing Scotland’s traditional arts and cultural heritage alongside international collections.On display are over 100 items on loan from public and private collections of world traditional dance books and artefacts.
Co-curator Mare Tralla‘s festival residency follows in the footsteps of the artists-in-residence in the Pomegranates festivals 2022 and 2023: Claudia Nocentini (Italy / Scotland) and Gabriel Schmitz (Germany/Spain). Likewise, Mare will create a new commission in her media of choice in response to the festival activities – a new screen dance that will be premiered at the festival finale.
10th, 17th and 30th April at 6pm Central Library, (George Washington Browne Room) George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG Led by artist-in-residence Mare Tralla, these hands-on craft workshops, inspired by the new exhibition include crafting your own costume jewellery and homeware while exploring the role of tassels and pom-poms across trad dance costumes. All materials such as natural fibres and up-cycled fabric will be provided. Suitable for anyone aged 18+.
Admission Free
Walking Tour
27th April at 11am Meet at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR Led by storyteller Donald Smith this is a relaxed festival walking tour exploring the dance traditions of Edinburgh’s Old Town, including their locations and social contexts. An opportunity to learn about the local folk traditions, the Scottish Court and ‘polite’ society. The tour will start from the Scottish Storytelling Centre with a preview of the festival exhibition Vengefully Changed Allegiance by Alison Harm of Psychomoda. The tour will end at Edinburgh’s Central Library with a preview of the festival exhibition Dance Around the World featuring trad dance books and artefacts from Edinburgh and beyond.
Admission Pay What You Can
Pomegranates
Established in 2022, Pomegranates is Scotland’s springtime festival of Scottish and international traditional danceproduced by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and TRACS in partnership with Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Libraries, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. The festival celebrates Scottish traditional dance and traditional dance practised by cultural migrant communities across Scotland. It provides a platform to showcase new dance commissions and residencies accompanied by live music, poetry, and art; and invites audiences to participate in ceilidhs, workshops (both in person and live streamed), tours, and talks about traditional dance from Scotland and around the world.
Work will soon get underway to significantly improve public spaces on Melville Crescent, thanks to £2.1m in Transport Scotland funding secured by the City of Edinburgh Council.
Improvements to the historic west end street will complement the recently completed City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL) scheme, which connects Roseburn to Leith Walk via Haymarket and the West End with a safe and direct cycle route, as well as enhancing streets for those walking and wheeling.
The public realm scheme, which begins on 22 April, will include wider and resurfaced pavements using sandstone slabs in-keeping with the World Heritage Site and the reintroduction of setts on the road along Melville Crescent, reusing the setts which currently lie hidden under the existing asphalt surface.
There will also be improved and additional crossing points, new lawn areas and street trees and cycle parking and benches added.
Designs for the project were originally developed as part of CCWEL and involved close collaboration with local stakeholders, along with Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, to ensure that proposals celebrate the unique World Heritage Site location.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “I’m delighted that we’re now able to press ahead with these improvements on Melville Crescent thanks to this significant funding secured from Transport Scotland.
“Not only will the changes create a much more welcoming environment, but they will restore some of the historic features unique to the street’s World Heritage status.
“As well as street trees and wider sandstone footways, I am delighted the setted street carriageway throughout Melville Crescent will return – using the setts which currently lie hidden under the existing asphalt surface.
“What’s more, the project will also benefit people travelling by foot, wheel or bike, complementing the fantastic, world-class CCWEL route, which I helped celebrate the opening of last week.”
There will be some changes to traffic during the work, which will be delivered by CCWEL contractors Balfour Beatty and is expected to last until December. This includes the closure of Walker Street North and one-way, northbound traffic only on Walker Street South, from William Street to Melville Street.
CCWEL was completed in March following two years of construction and will tie into a new George Street cycling thoroughfare delivered as part of the George Street and First New Town project.
Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women, is calling for people to take on a fundraising challenge in the month of June to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and National Armed Forces Day.
On 6 June, the United Kingdom will come together to commemorate the Normandy landings. This historic operation saw the Allied Forces mount the largest seaborne mission in history which resulted in the liberation of France and ultimately changed the course of the Second World War in favour of victory for the Allies.
Almost 133,000 troops from the Allied Forces landed on D-Day. 4,414 Allied troops were killed and over 5,000 were wounded, these men paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Blind veteran John McOwan, 103, and from Peebles, joined the Royal Artillery in 1939 at the age of 18 and was with them for nine months before the Second World War broke out. He was then transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
During the war, John was a Desert Rat and was stationed in the Middle East and Italy before taking part in the D-Day Landings.
He said: “We were in camps near Felixstowe and just prior to the mission we boarded the landing crafts and sailed the English Channel overnight and then laid anchor off the beaches in the morning of D-Day.
“Some of us had to lay to for some time before we could get ashore which wasn’t very comfortable when we were under fire from the Luftwaffe. But it was an epic sight to see so many ships in one area that one had the feeling you could almost walk from one ship to another.”
John lost his sight due to macular degeneration and he has a pseudophakia (false lens) in both eyes. John has no vision in his left eye and only a small amount of vision in his right eye.
In 2019, John joined a group of veterans on an organised trip to Normandy to mark 75 years since the D-Day Landings. During the trip a lot of memories that had laid dormant for many years were rekindled. A few months later, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic led John to write his memoirs with the support of Blind Veterans UK.
John said: “Everything the charity does to help veterans makes a huge difference to our quality of life. When writing my memoirs, the charity provided a volunteer to write up my handwritten notes, wide-lined paper, a magnifier and lighting.”
Blind Veterans UK has many activities planned to ensure the veterans they support can be part of commemorations and celebrations taking place throughout June.
If you, or your organisation, are looking for ways you can mark this poignant month, while also raising money to provide life changing support to veterans like John, there are lots of ways in which you can do this.
Perhaps you could highlight the 80th anniversary of D-Day by getting creative with “80” or step back in time to the 1940s.
You could plan a fundraising challenge with an £80 target per person, bake 80 cakes for your work colleagues, walk, run or cycle 80 kilometres during the month of June or hold a 1940s tea dance.
If you would like to find out more about taking on a challenge for Blind Veterans UK visit the charity’s website: blindveterans.org.uk/afm
John is one of 16 veterans that have been interviewed about their D-Day experiences by Blind Veterans UK to commemorate the 80th anniversary. His full story will be shared in a special commemorative booklet on the Blind Veterans UK website.
Blind Veterans UK supports thousands of blind veterans across the country, but knows there are many thousands more who still need its support to rebuild their lives after sight loss.
If you, or someone you know, served in the Armed Forces, including National Service, and are now struggling with sight loss, then please get in touch.
Cash boost for households as ‘historic’ National Living Wage increase comes into effect
More money in people’s pockets as a result of economic measures coming into effect today
Raft of economic policies are set to boost UK households and reward work
Low pay eliminated with largest ever cash increase to National Living Wage
Thousands of households across the UK are set to be around £3,850 better off as a raft of economic policies come into force this week.
An increase in the National Living Wage and a drop in energy prices mean certain households will stand to get this extra cash in their pockets.
The National Living Wage has officially risen from £10.42 an hour to £11.44, meaning no full-time worker over 21 will earn less than two-thirds of the average hourly wage. This marks a £1,800 annual boost to their pay packet – delivering a manifesto commitment to eliminate low pay.
Households will also save around £250 a year on average thanks to a drop in energy bills introduced by Ofgem today. This marks a 12.3% fall from the previous quarter, which brings prices down to their lowest since Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022.
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: “These measures could save households around £3,850 year on average which – taken with the upcoming cuts to NICs – will put more money in their pockets to help ignite the economy.
“Although recent years have tested our resolve, we have not bowed. We have stuck to the plan, more than halved inflation, and set us on a path to growth.
“Because of this determination, we find ourselves in a new economic moment and – thanks to our bumper package of economic reforms coming into force today – 2024 is set to be the year Britain bounces back.”
An increase to the Local Housing Allowance, also introduced on Monday, means some of the poorest families on either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit will gain around £800 a year on average.
That runs alongside the roll out of 15 hours of free childcare, which will save working parents an average of £3,450 a year – the first stage in the £8 billion childcare package that was announced by the Chancellor last year.
Meanwhile, tax cuts to SMEs and the UK film industry will start benefitting firms up and down the UK to help drive growth in the economy.
This includes increasing the VAT threshold for small businesses, slashing business rates for high street businesses, funding apprenticeships, and igniting the British film industry with a 10 year tax relief.
This bumper package of measures are coming into force today will fire up businesses and push the UK further into this new economic moment which sees Britain bouncing back.
The last few years have not been easy for the UK economy – the legacy of Covid, and global instability have tested financial systems across the world.
Since the beginning of 2023, the Prime Minister has been working on five priorities – three of which were economic: to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt. This has been achieved – and given us the headroom to deliver today’s package and slash the average workers taxes by £900 a year.
This puts the UK in a strong position to achieve the long-term ambition to abolish NICs entirely. This will put an end to the unfair system which means workers are taxed twice for the same work – NICs and Income Tax.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said: “Today we are addressing low hourly pay, with increases for people earning the National Living Wage worth £1,800 to a full time worker.
“It’s part of our plan to reward work which is why we’re also cutting National Insurance and delivering on our promise of more free childcare. All paid for by our progress in getting the economy back on track.
Baroness Philippa Stroud, Low Pay Commission Chair, said: “Today’s increases in the NMW and NLW mark a really significant milestone for the UK’s labour market. The Government set an ambitious, long-term target for the NLW which is being delivered. Today’s increases for young workers also reflect our ambition not to leave these groups behind.
“The target has boosted the incomes of low-paid workers in especially turbulent times and the evidence suggests the increases to date have been implemented steadily and carefully so as not to damage employment opportunities.
“Our work at the LPC to monitor the impacts of these increases is more important than ever. We invite contributions from workers, employers and other organisations to our imminent consultation.”
The measures coming into effect this week include:
National Living Wage increase
National Living Wage will increase from £10.42 an hour to £11.44 – representing a £1,800 boost to their yearly pay cheque.
This means nobody over 21 will earn less than two-thirds of the average hourly wage increase – putting more money in the pockets of around 3 million of UK’s lowest paid workers.
A full-time worker on the National Living Wage will see their gross annual earnings increase by over £8,600 since it was announced in 2015, and by over £10,000 since 2010.
Since its introduction, the National Living Wage has boosted the pay of millions of low-paid workers without any significant effects on employment.
SME VAT rate boost
The VAT threshold is being raised from £85,000 to £90,000. This means 28,000 fewer small businesses will be paying VAT at all from today.
The UK has a higher threshold than all EU countries, giving UK small businesses more cash to scale and grow their companies.
Apprenticeships fully funded by Government
The Government will fully fund apprenticeships for young people in small businesses from today by paying the full cost of training for anyone up to age 21.
This is backed by £60 million of funding and will support up to 20,000 new apprenticeships.
Business rate cuts for high street businesses
Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will continue to benefit from 75% off their business rates relief for yet another year.
This protects 230,000 high street properties from rising costs and saves the average pub nearly £13,000 over the next tax year.
The small business multiplier for business rates will be frozen for a fourth consecutive year, protecting over one million ratepayers from a 6.6% increase in bills.
Tax relief for UK film industry (England)
Film studios across England will receive 40% business rates relief on gross business rates bills until 2034.
This £470 million tax cut will ensure the UK remains an attractive place for its £11.9 billion film and high-end TV sector.
This is alongside the transformational UK Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC), designed to boost the production of UK independent films and support UK talent in films.
Under the IFTC, eligible films will be able to claim an enhanced credit, at a rate of 53%, on their qualifying expenditure.
Local Housing Allowance boosted
Depending on the benefit you receive and your payment schedule, eligible claimants will start to see an increase in their Local Housing Allowance rates.
The boost will benefit some of the poorest families on either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit who will gain around £800 a year on average.
This puts more money in the pockets of the lowest earners – giving them more spending power to boost their local economy.
New Energy Price Cap begins
Energy bills will fall by around £238, saving millions of households around £20 a month.
Energy prices are now at their lowest level in two years/since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, putting more money back into the pockets of hardworking families.
Households will now also benefit from £30 compensation if switching their supplier takes more than 5 working days, thanks to changes from Ofgem coming into force.
The move will give families reassurance that switching to cheaper deals can be quick and easy, as competition starts to return to the market.
Household Support Fund extended by six months(in England)
The six-month extension to the Household Support Fund starts today – backed by £500 million (£421 million to LAs in England and £79 million to DAs via Barnett.
This boost to the Household Support Fund will give vital, targeted support to millions of vulnerable households across England.
The fund has previously been used to help with water bills, provide health visits, disabled children services, free school meals and more.
Since launching in October 2021 over £2.5 billion has been invested into the Household Support Fund.
Since October 2022, CPI has already more than halved from 11.1% to 3.4%. This is stabilising the financial situation for many families, and the OBR expects that by Quarter 4 2024 (October-December) CPI will have fallen to 1.4%.
Childcare rolled out for working parents of 2 year olds (in England)
15 hours free childcare has been rolled out to parents of 2 year olds, which will save working parents an average of £3,450 a year.
This is the first stage in the £8 billion childcare package that was announced by the Chancellor last year – the biggest expansion of Government childcare provision in history.
