The Chancellor’s ambitious new budget was announced today, with a detailed series of new policies and reforms to help the cost of living and help people back into work. With a focus on increasing childcare support and continuing to support households with energy bills and a fuel duty freeze, families and businesses will keep more of the money they earn.
Lucy Allan MP said:
Today’s budget is a comprehensive package of reforms that will directly improve the lives of my constituents in Telford.
Energy bill support will be extended and fuel duty will be frozen, reducing the cost of living for households. Locally, the £2 bus fare cap will be extended until June on top of £767,000 for potholes in Telford & Wrekin.
Across the region, West Midlands investment zones, increased devolution of powers and full capital expensing is very good for business and jobs in Telford and encourages investment the area.
It is also vital to retain experienced doctors in the NHS and changes to the pension rules are long overdue and I know will be welcomed by clinicians at the Princess Royal.
I am glad to see the Government’s emphasis on getting more people into work and others back into work, which is crucial to reduce economic inactivity and grow the economy.
Parents will also be able to benefit from 30 hours of free childcare and childminders will receive payments from Government for their work.
I want to see people keep off the money they earn. To grow the economy it’s vital to make work pay. To encourage people into the workforce, the lowest paid workers need to be taken out tax altogether. It was disappointing to see tax thresholds frozen. In an inflationary environment this brings more people into the tax system and disincentivises work.
The Chancellor needs look to build on the work of the past 13 years by taking more lower paid people out of tax altogether and increase tax thresholds at least in line with inflation. I will continue to lobby for this in Parliament.
Key Points at a glance:
- Extending 30 hours of childcare a week to working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years
- Paying Universal Credit childcare costs up front rather than in arrears
- Introducing reforms to the childcare sector including changes to 2-year-old staff: child ratios from 1:4 to 1:5
- Extending the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for three months
- Establishing a new Universal Support programme for disabled people and the long-term sick
- Abolishing the Work Capability Assessment and increasing the Administrative Earning Threshold to 18 hours
- Freezing fuel duty for a thirteenth year, saving the average driver around £200
- Introducing a £25 billion three-year tax cut for business investment
- Increasing the annual pension allowance to £60,000 and abolishing the Lifetime Allowance
- Delivering a Brexit Pub Guarantee so draught duty will always be less than duty in supermarkets
You can read the budget in full here.
