No council tax, no route: Northern Ireland's £100 Budget gap

Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget on 28 October 2026, the first since Andy Burnham became prime minister in July. The headline measure for households is a one-off £100 payment to 20 million homes in council tax bands A–D in England, with equivalent funding allocated to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In England, the payment has a delivery mechanism: council tax bands. In Northern Ireland, it does not. There is no council tax there, so Stormont ministers will decide how the money reaches households.

That gap is the practical test of a Budget that otherwise moves money and decisions away from Westminster. Healey called it a Budget for the "working people of Britain, for British businesses big and small", built on "fiscal discipline". Alongside the payment, standing charges will be removed from household gas bills in England, Scotland and Wales, with the fixed daily costs moved to the unit rate. VAT on electricity bills was extended beyond April to July, and the Gas Shipper Obligation green levy moved to general taxation.

Fuel duty was frozen again to July, import taxes were removed on more than 100 food products, and a 55p per mile tax-free mileage rate for up to 10,000 work miles was made permanent. Banks will pay an extra 3% surcharge on profits, described as time-limited.

Business rates will be retained locally by the end of the decade, and mayors will get a share of income tax from 2028.

The Office for Budget Responsibility expects GDP growth of 1.2% this year and 1% next year.