Autumn Budget 2025: Positive Money response

In response to the Chancellor cutting the tax-free threshold on Cash ISAs, Sara Hall, Co-Executive Director at Positive Money, said:

“Slashing the tax-free allowance on Cash ISAs - in a bid to shove savers towards Stocks and Shares ISAs - will not boost investment in the things we need, it will just push up the price of stocks and shares, mostly benefiting the City of London.

“Cash ISAs are a vital source of funding for small businesses and for building societies. It’s hard to see how this government will meet its manifesto pledge of doubling the size of the mutuals sector if it cuts their funding.

“If the government really wants to use savings to boost investment in the real economy, it should copy France, where the ‘Livret A’ tax-free savings account is used to finance SMEs and social housing.”

On the Budget generally, Sara Hall, Co-Executive Director at Positive Money, said: 

“The scrapping of the two-child benefit cap is both deeply welcome and long overdue, and sits amongst a number of policies today that unburden those with the narrowest shoulders in society. 

“But those with the broadest shoulders still slipped the Chancellor’s net: the high-street banks making record profits from higher interest rates.

“Today was a huge missed opportunity to bring in billions with a windfall tax on bank profits, and we’re disappointed the Chancellor opted to listen to lobbyists over the electorate on this issue, who were overwhelmingly in favour of the policy.”

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