UK Budget 2026 Time: Wed., Oct. 28, Key Dates and US Times

The UK Budget 2026 was delivered on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented it to Parliament, according to HM Treasury’s “Budget 2026” page on GOV.UK. The House of Commons Order Paper listed the Budget Statement after Prime Minister’s Questions, which began at 12 noon GMT; no exact clock time for the statement itself was published. This story lists the Budget’s dated changes in one table, with a time-zone table for US readers and a one-page printable of the key dates.

What the Budget 2026 changes, and when

The Budget 2026 document on GOV.UK keeps the headline rates of income tax, National Insurance contributions and Value Added Tax (VAT) unchanged. The dated measures most households will notice:

Measure	What the Budget says	Takes effect
Cash Individual Savings Account (ISA) limit	Stays at £20,000; the planned cut is dropped	Tue., April 6, 2027 (no change)
National Living Wage	Up 3.9% to £13.21 an hour, about £910 a year more for a full-time worker	Thu., April 1, 2027
Fuel duty	The 5p-per-litre cut is extended and the planned January 2027 rise is cancelled	Until Thu., July 1, 2027
VAT on household electricity	Cut from 5% to 0%	Oct. 1, 2026 to July 1, 2027
Trading Allowance	Rises from £1,000 to £3,000	Tue., April 6, 2027
State Pension	Continues to rise by the highest of 2.5%, inflation or earnings growth	Each April through April 2029

On savings, the document says “the government has decided not to reduce the cash ISA limit, so that it remains at £20,000.” That reverses a GOV.UK notice published Sept. 17, 2026, which had set out a cut to £12,000 a year for savers under 65 from April 6, 2027. The Budget is the later of the two and is the current position.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its Economic and fiscal outlook for October 2026 the same day, Oct. 28, according to the OBR’s website. We do not quote its figures here.

When was the UK Budget 2026?

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. The date is also in a letter dated July 31, 2026 from John Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to Dame Meg Hillier, Chair of the Treasury Committee. He wrote: “I am writing to inform you that today I have asked the Office for Budget Responsibility to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast for publication on 28 October 2026. This will be accompanied by the Budget.”

So the OBR forecast and the Budget were due the same day, per HM Treasury, GOV.UK, July 31, 2026.

What time was the Budget statement?

The House of Commons Order Paper for Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 set out Wednesday’s order of business: questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland at 11:30 a.m., Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) at 12 noon, then the “Budget Statement — The Chancellor of the Exchequer.” So the statement followed PMQs, which began at 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The Order Paper did not give an exact clock time for the statement itself; in past years it began around 12:30 p.m., a pattern rather than a confirmed 2026 time.

The Order Paper also noted that at the end of the statement the first Budget Resolution was moved and debate began. It listed the debate as continuing on Thursday, Oct. 29 and Monday, Nov. 2, and concluding on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

What time was that in the US?

The table below uses 12 noon GMT, when PMQs start; the Chancellor’s statement follows. The statement’s own time was not published.

On Oct. 28 the UK was on GMT, because its clocks went back on Oct. 25. The US was still on daylight time until Nov. 1, so the gap to Eastern Time (ET) was four hours, not the usual five. Our UK and Europe clock-change story explains why the two weeks differ.

Place	Time zone on Oct. 28, 2026	12 noon GMT (PMQs start; statement follows)
London	GMT	12 noon
Dublin	GMT	12 noon
Paris	Central European Time (CET)	1 p.m.
New York	Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)	8 a.m.
Chicago	Central Daylight Time (CDT)	7 a.m.
Denver	Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)	6 a.m.
Los Angeles	Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)	5 a.m.

How does this compare with last year?

GOV.UK says the Chancellor presented the Budget 2025 to Parliament on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. The 2026 date is 29 days earlier in the calendar. Our Canada Budget 2026 date guide covers another country’s fall budget.

Key dates around the Budget

Date	What	Source
Wed., Nov. 26, 2025	Budget 2025 presented to Parliament	HM Treasury, GOV.UK
Fri., July 31, 2026	Chancellor asks the OBR for a forecast for Oct. 28	HM Treasury, GOV.UK
Wed., Oct. 28, 2026	Budget 2026 and OBR forecast	HM Treasury, GOV.UK
Thu., April 1, 2027	National Living Wage rises to £13.21 an hour	Budget 2026, GOV.UK
Tue., April 6, 2027	Start of the 2027-28 tax year; cash ISA limit stays at £20,000	Budget 2026, GOV.UK
Thu., July 1, 2027	Fuel duty cut and VAT cut on household electricity end	Budget 2026, GOV.UK

The full Budget 2026 document and the policy costings are on HM Treasury’s Budget 2026 page on GOV.UK.

Printable and calendars

Find the day on our October 2026 printable calendar, check the 2026 UK holiday list for bank holidays, or use the 2026 printable yearly calendar. The Budget key-dates timeline is in the downloads below. For next year’s days off, see our UK bank holidays 2027 list and the Christmas bank holidays 2026 story.