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The government remains committed to consulting on policy as set out in ‘The new approach to tax policy making’ in 2010. Most measures proposed at a Budget will be subject to policy consultation in the spring and publication of draft legislation in the summer, before being legislated in the Finance Bill after the following Budget. To build on this and allow for an earlier stage of involvement on key strategic challenges, the Chancellor has said that he may launch consultations on how to address these longer-term issues at the Spring Statement.

Additionally, the government will meet its manifesto commitment to increase the personal allowance to £12,500. Over the last Parliament, 2.4 million individuals in Scotland saw an average gain of £517, due to an increase to the personal allowance.

That’s slower, of course, than we would wish, but still equivalent to the IMF’s forecast for Germany, and higher than the forecast for growth in many of our European neighbours, including France and Italy.

We are carrying out a programme of sectoral and regulatory analysis, which will identify the key factors for British businesses and the labour force that will affect our negotiations with the EU. This will help inform our negotiating position and build a detailed understanding of how withdrawing from the EU will affect our domestic policies, to seize the opportunities and ensure a smooth process of exit.

Since 2011, most tax policy consultation summaries and draft Finance Bill legislation have been published on ‘Legislation day’, following the Autumn Statement. In 2016 this will be on 5 December. From 2018, under the new timetable, this will move to the summer. As now, the date will continue to be announced by written ministerial statement.