Bruce Cartwright CA – CEO of ICAS

Chancellor Rachel Reeves was in an optimistic mood about collecting an extra £1 billion from tackling tax evasion and avoidance per year by 2029-30, taking the total estimated revenue raised to £7.5bn. But the statement was light on the details of exactly how improved public service delivery would be achieved.

Bruce Cartwright CA, ICAS CEO, said: “Based on today’s statement, there’s an awful lot riding on the promises being made by the Chancellor, especially given a largely lethargic economy.

“It will be the details behind those promises that will determine whether, come the Autumn, the Labour Government can really claim success.

“Promising improved GDP growth, as well as delivering more cost effective and better quality public services are major challenges in themselves. Doing all of this at the same time as decreasing the tax gap is a very tall order. As a result, we think Autumn will be crunch time, with the potential for a very tricky budget.”

He continued: “We heard a lot of promises with little detail around public sector productivity and reform.

“The Chancellor talked about planning reform and other growth policies to generate an extra £3.4bn to support public finances and services. But with possibly only six months until the Autumn Budget, there’s not a lot of time for the Government to improve performance.

“Reeves also failed to further incentivise business growth using levers already at her disposal.”