I was eagerly watching the Budget today to find out what the Chancellor would announce and what that would mean for consumers. We’ve polled the public to see what they think about George Osborne’s 2013 Budget.
As soon as George Osborne finished, we started to poll more than 1,000 people across Britain about what they thought about the key announcements.
Overall, people feel fairly positive about the key measures announced in the Budget. It isn’t surprising that 87% of people support the decision to scrap the fuel duty rise, for example, as this has been one of the top consumer worries in our regular polling. And 89% support the rise in the personal tax allowance to £10,000 in April 2014.
Similarly, there was some good news for home buyers and two thirds of people support the announcement to extend the housing Shared Equity Scheme – where the government offer interest free loans to help people get on the property ladder.
Budget fails to boost consumer confidence
But, despite some strong support for individual measures, many people feel less confident about their finances and lack trust in the government to handle the economy. Here are some of our key findings:
Many have lost confidence due to the Budget: A third of people feel less confident about the economy as a result of the Budget, and a similar portion are less confident about their personal finances. George Osborne’s 2013 Budget has actually led to a fall in consumer confidence – 44% expect their personal finances to get worse in the next 12 months (up from 39% in February).
Our poll is gloomy reading for the government: around half of people think that the government’s economic plan isn’t working, and six in ten agree that the government needs to rethink its plan. Half of the population are not satisfied with the direction of the UK and half don’t trust the government to handle the economy.
People feel they’re taking a personal hit: nearly half of people think that the Budget will be good for the UK as a whole, but only a third of people think it will be good for them personally.
Increased cost of living tightening belts: seven in 10 say they are being negatively impacted by the increased cost of living and six in ten expect their family budget to be tighter this year than last.
This is what our poll tells us, but what about you? Do you think the UK is heading in the right direction or do we need a Plan B? Has the Budget made you feel more positive about the economy and your family’s finances, or is it more of the same?
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