What does chancellor Rishi Sunak's budget statement mean for me?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak set out his Spring Statement on Wednesday amid a cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine.

With prices rising fast on fuel and household utilities, Sunak was urged to help those facing unsustainable living costs.

What impact will his announcements have on people’s pockets?

National Insurance

The chancellor announced the threshold for paying National Insurance will increase by £3000.

People will be able to earn up to £12,570 before they pay any income tax of National Insurance.

It will save workers across the country £330 – a tax cut for an estimated 2.4 million Scots.

However, from April, National Insurance contributions will increase by 1.25 percentage points.

Fuel duty cut

Sunak announced a temporary cut to the duty of 5p per litre, which will last 12 months until March next year.

Oil prices have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with costs for motorists hitting record levels at the pumps.

Fuel duty has been frozen by the UK Government for 11 years, with it currently costing 58p per litre for petrol and diesel, whilst VAT of 20% is applied on top.

The duty makes up over a third of the price of a litre of petrol.

According to the RAC, a 5p cut will make it £3.30 cheaper to fill up a typical family car with a 55-litre tank.

The chancellor said the cut would save the typical driver £100.

Energy bills

From April 1, the energy price cap will rise by 54%.

It is expected a typical household will see costs rise to £1971 per year.

Sunak last month announced that all households will get a £200 discount on bills from October.

However, that will have to be repaid over four instalments from next year when energy prices should, supposedly, fall.

On Wednesday, Sunak said that VAT will be scrapped on energy efficiency measures such as solar panels, heat pumps and insulation installed for five years.