It is that time of year again and Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed that he will deliver his Autumn Budget to the House of Commons this year.

The Chancellor's Budget and Spending Review is a key moment in the fiscal calendar where Sunak will announce the government's financial plans strategy for the next year.

The contents of the budget are yet to be revealed but there has been widespread speculation about what it will include following the Conservative's conference in September.

The Conservatives have already revealed several considerable measures to help balance the books in recent weeks including the unpopular 1.25% increase in National Insurance contributions.

There has also been rumours of changes to the Minimum Wage despite it being raised in the Chancellor's March budget.

Ahead of the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow and moves made this week to reduce carbon emissions, climate change is also likely to take centre stage in this budget announcement.

When is the Autumn Budget 2021? 

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has confirmed that his Autumn Budget will take place next week on Wednesday October 27 2021.

Sunak will deliver the government's spending strategy to the House of Commons.

What will the Autumn Budget say?

Jobs and unemployment

Following the end of the Furlough scheme at the end of September, Sunak is expected to prioritise the creation of jobs in his latest announcement.

This would come after the £500 million funding plan he revealed at the Conservative party conference in Manchester earlier this month.

The new package is expected to prioritise those coming off Furlough and will extend the £3,000 apprentice incentive to employers until January 31 2022. 

Will the budget make changes to the minimum wage?

The Autumn Budget has been rumoured to include some significant changes to the current minimum wage.

Following the Chancellor's Spring Budget in March, the minimum wage has been £8.91 an hour for over-23s since the age threshold was lowered from over-25s.

Sunak is expected to lift it again to £9.42 in his review next week after Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted at a possible rise during his speech at the Tory conference.

At more than a 5% increase, these changes would make it the third-highest annual rise since the 2008 financial crash.

The Autumn Budget and students

Sunak has been under pressure to balance the budget and reduce the national debt following the financial strain of the Covid pandemic.

One way the Chancellor might do this is to lower the threshold that students will need to begin repaying their higher education loans.

By reducing the threshold to £23,000 as ministers have suggested, the Treasury would save nearly £2 billion a year.

These changes would also impact how long students would have to repay the loans, with graduates only having 30 years to repay them in full rather than the current 40.

What will Rishi Sunak do for the public sector?

The Chancellor is expected to end the one-year freeze on public sector pay that he placed on 1.3 million professionals during the pandemic. 

Sunak introduced the measure to counteract the deficit that the past 18 months of Lockdowns and Covid restrictions have had on the economy.

Although NHS Frontline workers were exempt from this move, the pay free affected a range of public sector workers from teachers, civil servants and local council workers.

Will there be tax changes?

Rishi Sunak said in his speech during the most recent Conservative party conference earlier this month that he wanted to introduce tax cuts but it is unlikely that they will be coming any time soon.

Income tax thresholds have already been frozen and a 1.25% increase in National Insurance contribution was announced to fund a health and social care levy. 

The government is currently borrowing £299 billion which is the highest amount since records began in 1946 so any significant tax cuts appear to be out of the question for the moment.

Capital gains tax rates are expected to be lifted to be in line with income tax rates.

We already know that Corporation tax is going to rise to 25 per cent from April 2023 and that there are no expected changes to the current rates of inheritance tax.

What will the Autumn Budget do for Climate Change?

Climate change is likely to play a crucial role in the Autumn Budget this year. 

The Treasury released its plans for next zero emissions by 2050 yesterday, despite it being due in Spring 2021. 

Their green finance roadmap set out new standards for environmental reporting to fight companies that partake in "greenwashing" as well as make the public's financing of these companies more transparent under these requirements.

This comes after the government introduced a £5000 grant scheme to help householders swap out their old gas boilers for low carbon producing heat pumps.

Cladding scandal support

We already know that Housing Secretary Michael Gove has been looking at a range of options to help thousands of flat owners of at-risk buildings to finance their rocketing insurance bills. 

According to the Guardian, Gove is exploring a government-backed insurance scheme.

We may hear about these developments from Michael Gove himself or any funding announcements may also make their way in the Autumn Budget.