Autumn Budget Statement

Date posted: 18th November 2022

On Thursday 17 November, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered the Autumn Budget Statement, setting out what will be happening with the national finances.

We’ve been campaigning for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to do the right thing and provide targeted support for disabled people during the cost-of-living crisis. Here is a summary of some of the key headlines from the Autumn Budget Statement that affect blind and partially sighted people:

• Benefits are going to be uprated by 10.1%, in line with inflation, from April 2023.

• The Government will provide additional one-off cost of living payments, sometime after April 2023. This means £900 for people on means-tested benefits, and £150 for people on disability benefits.

• There will be a two-year pause in migrating people from Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit.

• The energy price guarantee is being extended, but in a different way. A typical household will now pay £3,000 per year, up from the current £2,500 per year, from April 2023 for a year. But this is the amount a typical household will pay, so if you use above average amounts of energy you will pay more than this.

Mike Bell, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, said: “Raising benefits in line with inflation, doubling the disability cost of living payment and a further payment for those on lower incomes, will be a real help to many blind and partially sighted people worried about making ends meet.

“Together with our Sight Loss Councils, we will continue to campaign to ensure the help reaches those blind and partially sighted people who most need it.”