Jeremy Hunt will deliver his first autumn budget as Chancellor on Thursday, where he is expected to announce a range of tax rises and spending cuts.

The autumn statement will mark an abrupt about-turn on Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget, which plunged the country into financial turmoil, as Rishi Sunak hopes to reassure the markets and steady the country’s finances.

Here is what we can expect this week.

READ MORE: The Southampton people with a message for Jeremy Hunt

Daily Echo:

What is going to be in the autumn statement?

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been explicit that “difficult decisions” are coming on tax and spending, but as is the norm with budgets and fiscal statements, nothing has so far been officially confirmed.

Spending cuts across most if not all Government departments are expected, although all eyes will be on whether health and defence spending are protected from the brunt of savings.

Any cuts could prove painful to already stretched public services and Mr Hunt is likely to seek to claw back revenue through tax rises.

It is widely expected that the Chancellor will seek to raise finances through stealth taxes by freezing the rates in which workers begin paying higher rates of tax. Put simply, inflation and pay increases will mean more people being dragged into higher bands.

Also believed to be under consideration is a plan to hike the amount that local authorities can increase council tax by without holding referendums.

The threshold for when the 45% rate of income tax kicks in for the highest earners could also potentially be decreased from £150,000 to £125,000.

READ MORE: Three things Southampton people want from the Autumn Statement

Mr Hunt is expected to make the support plan for energy bills less generous from April, instead switching to more targeted measures in order to save the Treasury billions, while he is also considering increasing the windfall tax on oil and gas giants from 25% to 35% while also expanding the levy to electricity generators.

The cap on social care costs announced by Boris Johnson could also be delayed by at least two years, although campaigners have already flagged concerns about any such decision.

Mr Hunt is also expected to follow his predecessor Mr Kwarteng and lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses.

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