Healey Poised to Overturn Planned Cut to Cash ISA Allowance

John Healey is poised to overturn a planned cut to the cash ISA allowance in his first budget as Chancellor, the UK's finance minister, The Guardian reported on 28 October 2026.

An ISA, or individual savings account, is a UK account that lets people hold savings or investments without paying tax on the returns. A cash ISA holds savings that earn interest, as opposed to shares. Under plans drawn up by Rachel Reeves, Healey's predecessor as Chancellor, the annual limit on cash ISA contributions would have fallen from £20,000 to £12,000 from next April. The stated aim of that cut was to channel more money into UK company stocks.

According to the same report, Healey is expected to tell the House of Commons in his tax and spending statement on Wednesday that educating people about the advantages of investing in stocks and shares is a better approach than reducing tax breaks on savings. The Financial Times first reported the reversal. The Treasury, the government department responsible for public finances, declined to comment on it.

Finance industry figures had warned that cutting the cash ISA limit could discourage people from saving and push up mortgage rates, the Guardian said. Separately, modelling by IG suggested that phasing out cash ISAs for new contributions, while leaving existing savings untouched, could raise up to £610m in additional tax revenue a year by 2032-33.