CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak will deliver his Spring Statement for 2022 next week as households across the UK face soaring energy bills and a cost of living crisis.

National insurance contributions, inflation and energy bills are all set to surge in April, which will outstrip wage, pension and benefit rises.

A source told the Sun on Sunday that Sunak’s plan will be “policy-light” and not to expect him to pull a “rabbit out of the hat” to solve the cost of living crisis.

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Sunak himself echoed this on Sunday, adding: “I wish government could solve absolutely every problem, that I could fully protect people against all the challenges that lie ahead. I can’t do that."

The SNP have dubbed Sunak the “poverty Chancellor” and called for an emergency package of support, whilst Labour have demanded a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.

After Sunak’s Sunday morning broadcast rounds, The National have pulled together the announcements and policy trails to see what to expect next week.

The National:

What is the Spring Statement and when will it be announced?

Sunak will deliver his statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday 23 March at 12.30pm. The Chancellor will give a speech with additional documents and forecasts available online shortly afterwards.

Due to complaints from the Speaker, much less of Sunak’s plans have been trailed ahead of the announcement this time round.

The Spring Statement is a “mini-budget” on the situation facing the economy, but isn’t on the same level as the Budget as it does not contain certain tax and spending powers.

The Chancellor will also set out the true scale of the cost of living crisis through Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts on GDP growth, borrowing, debt and inflation.

The National:

Will the National Insurance (NI) rise be scrapped?

From April 6, NI contributions are set to increase by 1.25 percentage points, which the UK Government say will raise £12 billion for health and social care.

Sunak showed no signs of budging on this, telling the BBC that the hike is to deal with the NHS backlog.

Asked if he would raise the threshold that people would pay higher NI contributions, Sunak said: “We've done it in a fair way and going forward my priority is to cut taxes and put money back in people's pockets.”

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However, there are fears that the increase will have a bigger impact on those on low pay.

As workers pay 12% NI currently on earnings between £9,564 (13.25%/£9,880 from April) and £50,268, but earnings above this amount only attracts a rate of 2%. Therefore, if your income rises above £50,000, NI takes a smaller proportion of your wages.

The National:

Will any measures be brought in to tackle the energy and cost of living crisis?

Sunak was tight lipped on any policy announcements, but many other newspapers have been reporting that he hinted at a cut to fuel duty, which has been frozen for 11 consecutive years.

The Chancellor told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “Obviously I can’t comment on specific things, but what I would say, I understand that… I have a rural constituency, people are incredibly reliant on their cars and this is one of the biggest bills that people face, watching it go up.

“We’re all seeing that, when we’re filling up our cars. I get that, that’s why we’ve frozen fuel duty already.”

There has also been speculation that Sunak could increase the £150 council tax rebate to help people pay for their energy bills as they are set to jump by £693 a year on April 1. This is expected to rise again by £1000 per year in October.

The National:

What about other tax rises?

The Income Tax personal allowance and 40p rate threshold will be frozen at £12,570 and £50,270. The IFS think tank has warned the threshold freezes will lead to more than £20bn in ‘stealth’ taxes as inflation soars.

And, the VAT rate for hospitality firms, currently 12.5% due to Covid, is due to return to 20%.

The National:

What about benefits, pensions and public sector pay rises?

The Ukraine-Russia war is set to have an impact on inflation, with Whitehall officials reportedly braced for it to hit 8%.

Despite this, the UK Government has been resistant to giving vital key workers pay rises above 5 or 6%. Teachers and NHS staff in England were only offered a 3% pay rise for 2022-23.

Sunak will also only raise benefits by 3.1% - and the SNP have called for this to be raised to 6% to help those on the lowest incomes survive the crisis, in line with the Scottish Government’s plan to do the same with six Scottish social security payments.

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Pensions will also only rise by 3.1% after the triple-lock was scrapped at the end of 2021.

SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson David Linden MP said: “Rishi Sunak has become the poverty chancellor - pushing families further into hardship by imposing Tory cuts and regressive tax hikes.

"The Chancellor must stop making excuses and deliver an emergency package of support at the spring budget - raising benefits by at least 6%, scrapping the NI tax hike, matching the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide, reversing the £1040 Universal Credit cuts, introducing a Real Living Wage, and turning his ‘heat now pay later’ loan into a more generous grant.”