Households will be able to enjoy children's meals in restaurants and certain days out for less today as temporary tax cuts across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland go live today (25 June).
VAT will be cut temporarily at theme parks and major leisure attractions to help reduce the cost of days out over the summer, with Alton Towers, The London Eye and LEGOLAND among the businesses taking part in the scheme.
Summer VAT cut
From 25 June to 1 September, a reduced 5% VAT rate (down from its regular 20%) will apply to certain services in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland including children’s meals served in restaurants, as well as children’s and family tickets for the cinema, the theatre, exhibitions, shows and concerts.
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The cut will also be applied to admission tickets for both children and adults to a range of attractions, such as amusement parks, fairs, circuses, museums, zoos, adventure parks, soft play and observation attractions.
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The Treasury confirmed to MoneyWeek that adults without children can still access the savings on attractions.
The idea is that people can get out and spend money in the economy at a cheaper rate, as long as businesses pass on the VAT savings.
If a business chooses to pass on the full VAT savings, a family of two adults and two children could get £9 off tickets to the circus, £17 off tickets to a wildlife park and £20 off tickets to a theme park, according to the Treasury.
At a roundtable last week at Chessington World of Adventure, Chancellor Rachel Reeves met with business leaders from Merlin Entertainments, Crealy Theme Park in Devon, Camel Creek Family Adventure Park in Cornwall, Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts, Haven and Paultons Park, which all backed the VAT scheme.
Others taking part include Cineworld, Barleylands Farm Park in Essex and Nando’s.
Reeves said: “This comes on top of support we’ve already put in place including freezing fuel duty, taking off £117 off energy bills, and freezing prescriptions and rail fares – all to help families with the cost of living.”
Offering further savings for families, Adventure Attractions in Bournemouth has removed its historic toll to access the pier indefinitely to boost footfall, while Merlin Entertainments will be applying the VAT cut alongside an offer to visit two theme parks for the price of one. Merlin’s attractions include Alton Towers, Chessington, Thorpe Park, The London Eye and Peppa Pig theme parks among others.
Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts, said on 17 June: “At Gulliver’s, we’ve already applied these savings to ticket prices across our four UK resorts – Gulliver’s Kingdom in Matlock Bath, Gulliver’s World in Warrington, Gulliver’s Land in Milton Keynes and Gulliver’s Valley in Rotherham – so combined with our latest summer ticket offer, the next few weeks are the perfect time for families to come and enjoy great value days out with us.”
The moves come as inflation remains high and is predicted to increase further due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Oil and wholesale energy prices have been rising since the Iran war began on 28 February, leading to a 17% hike in the average energy bill from July, and soaring petrol and diesel prices.
Free bus travel
Throughout August, all children aged five to 15 in England will be able to travel for free on any local bus service.
The Treasury said this will help more families access summer activities while reducing pressure on household budgets.
This is good news for people living outside London. Those in the capital can already get free travel on the London Underground using a five to 15-year-old zip card.
Price cuts for supermarket essentials
The prices of certain supermarket staples are set to fall this summer after the government announced it will cut some tariffs (taxes paid when importing goods) on more than 100 goods.
The tax cuts are expected to save consumers more than £150 million a year, according to figures from the Treasury as part of the Summer Savings initiative.
The package includes cuts to fruit, oils, avocados, bread, pizzas and olives.
Prices on some sweet treats will also be reduced, including chocolate, gingerbread, biscuits, marzipan and waffles.
A full list of the goods can be found below:
Will the cost of living measures help you?
Cheaper days out will be attractive to anyone.
But there is no requirement for businesses to pass on the full VAT savings so the actual benefit may depend on the attraction.
Similarly, it will be up to supermarkets to pass on the savings to customers of suspended food tariffs, which Reeves said she expects to be done in full.
Charlotte Kennedy, chartered financial planner at Rathbones, highlights that these measures are rightly aimed at limiting price rises in areas of inflation that are often unavoidable for many households, such as food and travel.
But she warned: “While any targeted support will be welcomed by many households, the impact of rising prices is unlikely to be felt evenly. Lower-income families and those already spending a larger share of their income on essentials may continue to face significant pressure on household budgets.
“It is also worth remembering that everyone experiences inflation differently, depending on their individual spending habits.
"As such, it remains important to keep a close eye on your finances to maintain financial resilience. This may include reviewing regular outgoings, prioritising high-interest debt repayments where possible, and building up a rainy-day fund – with three to six months’ worth of living expenses often considered a good rule of thumb.”
Some other cost of living relief measures are already in motion, with the Treasury extending the fuel duty freeze until the end of 2026. It was due to be phased out from September.
Meanwhile, Reeves has said she is looking at targeted support for households that will struggle to pay their energy bills.
