Philip Hammond delivered Britain’s first post-Brexit, post-Trump Autumn Statement.

In a time of great uncertainty, businesses across the UK were looking to the Chancellor for assurance that plans were in place to ensure the country’s competitiveness and economic future. But did he deliver?

Here Elliott Buss, partner at Newport-based UHY Hacker Young chartered accountants, outlines what the day’s announcements mean for Welsh businesses.

The headline news for Wales in this Autumn Statement is undoubtedly the Chancellor’s announcement of an extra £400m for Welsh capital investment over the next five years. Maximising the impact of such an investment will require businesses in Wales to be involved in how that investment is allocated. The Chancellor’s backing of the Swansea Region Deal and the North Wales Growth Deal are two key examples for this.

Philip Hammond also announced an additional £2bn annually for scientific research and development. This is £2bn of real and available cash funding, rather than tax relief. With Wales being home to a wide and ever-growing array of technology companies, it is vital we ensure a fair percentage of that funding arrives here.

The good news continues for the construction industry, as the Chancellor has committed to increase funding for house building via a £2.3bn infrastructure fund to deliver up to 100,000 new homes. But, if Wales is to ensure it secures its share of the new funding, we will need to act fast. The question now becomes, where will these new homes be built?

The commitment to reduce the corporate tax rate to 17 per cent by 2020 is welcome news as, if nothing else, it provides businesses with some sense of certainty in a post-Brexit world. There was little surprise that fuel duty is to be frozen for its seventh year. The Chancellor has stated that this will save the average van driver around £350 per year, but in reality, this is cash they were not having to spend anyway.

The personal allowance, the amount a person can earn before they must start paying tax, is already set to rise to £11,500 in April 2017, and the Living Wage is still set to increase to £7.50 next April. It’s also important to note that employee and employer National Insurance thresholds are to be equalised at £157 per week from April 2017.

Higher rate earners will see their tax-free personal allowance rise to £50,000 in time. However, with the exception of allowances for pensions, childcare, cycling and ultra-low emission cars, tax savings on salary sacrifice and benefits in kind are set to be stopped.

Perhaps the biggest shock was the announcement that, in a move to provide certainty to the tax and business environment, the Autumn Statement itself will be abolished. Instead, in autumn 2017 Britain will have an Autumn Budget to announce tax changes well in advance of the new tax year. Spring 2018 will see the arrival of a new Spring Statement, where the Chancellor will respond to the OBR’s forecasts.