Autumn Budget 2026: five no-brainers to boost productivity

Despite ongoing calls for radical tax and economic reforms to boost productivity, Chancellor John Healey is expected to deliver a cautious, low-key Budget, Tim Sarson You can tell it’s Budget season. The leaves are just starting to turn, Halloween goods fill the shops, and the corridor small talk from my colleagues has moved on from “how was your summer holiday” to “so what’s going to happen on October 28th then?” My answer to them, subject of course to some huge new rumour or fiscal bombshell in the coming week, is “not much”.  I’m expecting a quiet, targeted affair, marked by few of the sweeping tax rises we saw in the last two under Rachel Reeves. Two months ago, I wrote here how our new Chancellor John Healey seems to want to keep things light and cheerful. I’ve not changed my mind on this. Every time anything remotely ‘interesting’ has found its way into the rumour mill since the change of leadership it’s been gently scotched by someone in government or put squarely on th