POLICY

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has this week delivered her Autumn Budget Statement to Parliament (26 November 2025).

We’ve gone through the details of her speech and the documents issued by the Treasury to give you a briefing on the big budget announcements and changes that will affect our sector. 

SPEED READ: 

• Increases to the minimum wage by between 4.1% to 8.1% 
• An extension to the freeze on Income Tax and National Insurance Thresholds 
• A £2000 cap on salary-sacrifice pension contributions 
• New employment and skills packages to get young people into work, and support for employers with apprenticeships 
• A mileage tax on electric vehicles 
• The unfreezing of fuel duty. 

BPCA reacts to the budget

Rosina Robson, BPCA’s Chief Executive, responded to the Government’s announcements: 

“The Government’s offering for this year's Autumn Budget makes some welcome steps in supporting training, skills and employment for young people. While we appreciate support for the delivery of apprenticeships and the time being given to prepare for many of the changes that affect us, the budget remains disappointing in other areas.  

“Not enough support is being offered for small businesses, like our members, who will be facing rising wage bills and higher operating costs.” 

Freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds 

The freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds is to be extended by three years, until April 2031. Previously, the freeze was only expected to last until April 2028. 

This leaves the income tax personal allowance at £12,570, the higher-rate threshold at £50,270, and the additional rate threshold at £125,140. 

The threshold at which employers start making National Insurance contributions remains at £5000, which was set during last year’s budget. 

National Minimum Wage increase 

Reeve’s made this announcement earlier than the rest of her budget, arriving Tuesday evening.  

Whilst there are increases across age brackets to reflect changes in the cost of living, the most significant change is for those in the 18-20 bracket, who are getting an 8.5% raise.  

This is being ratcheted up as part of Labour's election promise to abolish that age bracket, which is viewed as discriminatory, and to have all adults on the same minimum wage. 

The changes will come into effect on 1 April 2026, the start of the new financial year. 

The reception so far has been mixed, with the British Chambers of Commerce, UK Hospitality and others warning that this represents not only increased costs for businesses already under financial pressure, but makes it even less attractive to hire young people.  

Those who do work on minimum wage may also be slightly disappointed, as the Living Wage Foundation calculates that the actual wage needed to meet the cost of living sits at £13.45, or £14.80 in London. 

Salary Sacrifice cap 

From April 2029, a cap of £2,000 will be imposed on salary-sacrifice pension contributions.  

This means that any contributions above that cap will no longer be exempt from National Insurance and will be taxed like any other ordinary employee pension contribution. 

Such schemes allowed employees to sacrifice some of their salary, with the employer paying it into their pension contributions instead. This allowed employees to maintain their take-home pay below certain tax thresholds. 

Employment and skills support 

The Chancellor announced two policies, along with sizable pots of money, targeted at young people and helping them get into work. 

The first is the Youth Guarantee, backed by £820 million, which guarantees a paid work placement lasting 6 months for 18-21 year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for 18 months and are looking for work. 

Second is £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy, which will be used to support apprenticeships for young people. This policy includes fully funded SME apprenticeships for those aged 25 or under.  

While pest management apprenticeships are currently unavailable in the UK, this could be good news for the BPCA Qualifications Framework and add new funding options in the future for pest management qualifications.  

Electric vehicles 

A tax on electric vehicle mileage will start in April 2028. This will be set at 3p-per-mile for battery vehicles, and 1.5p-per-mile for plug-in hybrids. 

Those charges will then increase annually with the Consumer Price Index. 

The Office for Budget Responsibility predicts that in its first year, “the average driver of a battery electric car […] driving 8,500 miles is […] expected to be charged £255”. 

It’s another thing to consider if you’re thinking of making the switch to an electric fleet of pest management vehicles.  

Fuel duty 

Increases to fuel duty, which have been frozen since 2011, will soon be unfrozen in September 2026. Until then, fuel duty will remain at 52.9p a litre for both petrol and diesel.  

The temporary 5p cut to fuel duty introduced by Rishi Sunak in 2022 will also be reversed in stages from September. 

Fuel duty will also increase in line with the Retail Price Index from April 2027. 

YOUR REACTION 

Taken together, the budget gives our sector a mixed bag. There are some green shoots around apprenticeships, which could become genuinely useful once we’re further along with the Qualifications Framework. 

But the freeze on tax thresholds means most people will feel worse off. The absence of tax rises is welcome, though it won’t counter rising costs. And while the 5p fuel duty cut staying put is better than an increase, it’s hardly a game changer for anyone running a fleet.  

As ever, we’ll keep digging into the detail and make sure members have what they need to plan ahead. 

How do you feel about the Autumn Budget? Send your reactions to:

policy@bpca.org.uk