North East Somerset workers on average earnings would have to work for four centuries before they would benefit from a £1 billion tax cut from government, it has been revealed. In the Spring Budget, the Chancellor abolished the tax-free limit on pensions savings for those with more than £1 million in their pension pot. This will cost the taxpayer £1 billion but will only benefit the 1% with the biggest pension pots. The average NE Somerset worker approaching retirement age typically has around £107,000 in their pension funds, according to official figures. This means they would have to keep working and adding to their pension for 10 times longer - or roughly 400 years - to see a tax saving. Commenting on the findings, Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “The Chancellor’s 1 billion-pound pensions giveaway for the 1% won’t help NE Somerset workers during a cost-of-living crisis - it will only widen the chasm between the very wealthy and everyone else.

"NE Somerset locals starting out their career today would need to work until the year 2423 before they’d see a single penny! At a time when families across the area face ever rising bills, frozen wages and are left fearing for the future, this giveaway is the wrong priority from a government who are letting families down in NE Somerset, and across the West of England.”