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 1. You're here:
 2. The UK's technology trade association
 3. What we deliver
 4. Insights
 5. The Spring Budget 2024 – what was in it and what does it mean for the tech
    sector?  

techUK news and views
06 Mar 2024


THE SPRING BUDGET 2024 – WHAT WAS IN IT AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE TECH
SECTOR?  

Against a difficult fiscal backdrop, the Chancellor aims to strike a balance,
providing support for businesses and technology adoption as well as tax cuts
ahead of the election.  

With an election due within the next year the Chancellor presented his Spring
Budget 2024 with an eye on the electorate. The majority of proposals were
designed to support those hardest hits by the rise in the cost in living as well
as freezing alcohol and fuel duties that impact a wide range of consumers.

A further 2% cut to National Insurance, building on the already announced 2% cut
announced in the Autumm Statement aimed to provide a further boost for the
public ahead of an election.

This cut to National Insurance was paid for through a new vape levy and rise in
tobacco duty, extending the UK’s windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas
companies until 2029, changes to ‘non-dom’ status and a range of other small tax
rises.  


WHAT DID THE BUDGET TELL US ABOUT THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR THE UK:  

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out that the Chancellor will
continue to meet his fiscal rules, with the national debt falling at the end of
the forecasted period  

There were some positive signs in business investment, with the OBR showing
business investment rose by 6.1%, faster than predicted in the Autumn.  

However, the outlook for the British economy remains sluggish. The economy
entered a technical recession at the beginning of 2024 and the OBR has not
significantly revised up its growth forecasts from the Autumn.  

There was positive news for inflation, which is set to fall to the Bank of
England’s 2% target in Q2 of 2024.  


WHAT ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE THERE FOR THE TECH SECTOR? 

A new approach to public sector spending with a focus on new technology and
productivity: the Government is broadly maintaining existing levels of public
spending. However, the Chancellor announced a new public spending productivity
plan.  

The largest feature of this was fully funding the NHS productivity plan with an
additional £2.5bn, as well as changing how the Treasury reviews spending
decisions. Making it easier for Government Departments allocate investments in
projects that will improve the productivity of public services.  

Investment in tech clusters across the UK: The Chancellor announced a range of
‘levelling-up' investments aimed at supporting high tech clusters across the
country, these included investment in the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland,
financing for new homes and a health tech cluster in Canary Wharf and a
long-term funding settlement for the development of Cambridge.  

Addressing concerns with HMRC and the R&D tax credit: responding to concerns
raised about how the R&D tax credit is being implemented with a rise in claw
backs against SMEs the Treasury has said HMRC will establish an expert advisory
panel to support the administration of the R&D tax reliefs. The panel will
provide insights into the cutting-edge R&D occurring across key sectors such as
tech and life sciences, and review relevant guidance, ensuring it remains up to
date and provides clarity to claimants 

Full expensing to be extended to leased assets: this builds on a welcome capital
investment relief announced at the previous budget. By extending full expensing
this will allow businesses to deduct the full cost of eligible IT equipment,
plant, and machinery in the year they are purchased or leased, helping
businesses invest in new capital. The full expensing scheme has significantly
improved the competitiveness of the UK’s capital incentives and this extension
to leased assets is welcome. 

Financial and savings reforms to boost investment in high growth companies: the
Chancellor announced a range of measures to build on the Government’s plans to
encourage more investment into high growth sectors such as the tech sector.
British institutional investors, such as pension funds, and savers across the UK
will be encouraged to invest in domestic companies through new transparency
measures and a new UK ISA will support savers and open up UK retail investment
opportunities for individuals. The UK ISA will be a £5,000 allowance in addition
to the existing ISA allowance. Providing a new tax-free product for people to
invest in UK-focused assets. 

Additionally, the winners of the Long-Term Investment for Technology and Science
(LIFTS) competition we announced as Schroders and Intermediate Capital Group
(ICG). 

Reversal on Angel Investment rules: the Treasury has listened to campaigners
from the start-up community and an InvestHER campaign, confirming it will
reverse plans to raise the income and net asset thresholds to qualify as an
Angel Investor. 

Updates on compute: The Government has announced over £1.5 billion of planned
investment in public compute. The Spring Budget did not announce new money but
set out that late in the year details will be provided on how both researchers
and innovative companies will be able to access to these investments. 

Digital adoption and upskilling: a £7.4 million AI upskilling fund pilot was
announced to help SMEs develop AI skills. This funding will complement the SME
Digital Adoption Taskforce, which the government will shortly be launching. The
taskforce will investigate how best to support the adoption of digital
technology by SMEs to boost their productivity.  

Accelerating smart data schemes, energy and transport: the government is
providing targeted funding for consultations and calls for evidence to
accelerate schemes in energy and transport.  

Revised Growth Duty and new performance framework: the government will extend
the Growth Duty to Ofwat, Ofcom and Ofgem and publish refreshed guidance on the
Growth Duty. The government will also publish a Regulator Performance Framework
in the coming months that will encourage greater regulator agility, efficiency
and responsiveness. 

Additional Funding for the Alan Turing Institute: the Alan Turing Institute has
been granted up to £100 million in funding for the Institute over the next five
years. techUK and our members will be interested to understand how this
significant investment will be allocated.  

The full Spring Budget 2024 documents can be read here. 

 


RESPONDING TO THE CHANCELLOR’S SPRING BUDGET, TECHUK CEO JULIAN DAVID SAID:  

This Budget builds on a number of positive policy choices made by the Government
over the past year. A new plan to boost productivity in the NHS and across
public services will deliver a much-needed injection of funds for digitisation,
resulting in a better service for the public.  

Additional steps to review how HMRC is administering the R&D tax credit, giving
clarity on how new public compute investments will be accessed and new funding
to encourage digital and AI adoption will also be welcome.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


POLICY PULSE NEWSLETTER & UPDATES

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of technology policy and spotlights events and engagement opportunities through
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NEIL ROSS

Associate Director, Policy, techUK

×


NEIL ROSS

Associate Director, Policy, techUK



As Associate Director for Policy Neil leads on techUK's public policy work in
the UK. In this role he regularly engages with UK and Devolved Government
Ministers, senior civil servants and members of the UK’s Parliaments aiming to
make the UK the best place to start, scale and develop a tech business.

Neil joined techUK in 2019 to lead on techUK’s input into the UK-EU Brexit trade
deal negotiations and economic policy. Alongside his role leading techUK's
public policy work Neil also acts as a spokesperson for techUK often appearing
in the media and providing evidence to a range of Parliamentary committees.

In 2023 Neil was listed by the Politico newspaper as one of the '20 people who
matter in UK tech' and has regularly been cited as a key industry figure shaping
UK tech policy. 



Email: neil.ross@techuk.org Twitter: @neil13r Website: www.techuk.org/ LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilross13/

ARCHIE BREARE

Public Affairs Manager, techUK

×


ARCHIE BREARE

Public Affairs Manager, techUK



Archie Breare joined techUK in September 2022 as the Telecoms Programme intern,
and moved into the Policy and Public Affairs team as the Team Assistant in
February 2023 and as Public Affairs Manager in September 2023

Before starting at techUK, Archie was a student at the University of Cambridge,
completing an undergraduate degree in History and a  master's degree in Modern
British History.

In his spare time, he likes to read, discuss current affairs, and to try and
persuade himself to cycle more.



Email: archie.breare@techuk.org LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/in/archie-breare-512346230,linkedin.com/in/archie-breare-512346230

JULIAN DAVID

CEO, techUK

×


JULIAN DAVID

CEO, techUK



Julian David is the CEO of techUK, the leading technology trade association that
aims to realise the positive outcomes that digital technology can achieve for
People, Society, the Economy and the Planet.

He leads techUK’s nearly 100 strong team representing over a thousand British
based tech companies, comprising global and national champions and more than 600
SMEs and ScaleUP companies. techUK is the voice of the tech industry in the UK
with 21 member led programmes covering all of tech from ‘Chips to Clicks’ and
addressing 11 market sectors from Defence and Central Government, through to
Health, Consumer Electronics and Financial Services.

In 2021 techUK launched TechSkills, the employer-led accreditation organisation
that aims to improve the flow of talent into the digital workforce and open up
access for all to high value tech jobs.

Julian represents techUK on a number of external bodies including the Digital
Economy Council, the National Cyber Security Advisory Council and the Department
of Business and Trade’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group. He is member of the NTA
Advisory Board of DIGITALEUROPE and is a member of the Board of the Health
Innovation Network the South London Academic Health Science Network.

Julian has over thirty years of experience in the technology industry. Prior to
joining techUK, he had a series of leadership roles at IBM including Vice
President for Small and Medium Business and Public Sector. After leaving IBM he
worked as a consultant helping tech SMEs establish successful operations in the
U.K. His personal interests include Football (West Ham, Balham FC and Real
Madrid) and Art.



Email: julian.david@techuk.org Twitter: @techUKCEO LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-david-8013b817/

 

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