From overhauling childcare and promoting business through tax improvements; to extending the Energy Price Guarantee and freezing fuel and pub pint duty to save consumers money – Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, welcomed the Chancellor’s ‘budget for growth’.
The Chancellor took to the House of Commons Chamber to unveil the Conservative Government’s Spring Budget today. Headline announcements include expanding free childcare to 30 hours, a £27 billion tax cut for business to drive investment and growth, and massive measures to ease cost-of-living pressures.
Dr Hudson praised the budget, that will see inflation fall, the national debt come down and growth boosted. The Penrith MP has long pushed Government to prioritise cost-of-living support giving the unprecedented global challenges facing UK residents.
As such, the £94 billion cost of living package and extension of the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 was greatly supported by Dr Hudson, who knows just how important it will be to families across Penrith and The Border. This total support equals £3,300 per UK household and will have saved a typical family £1,500 on their energy bills since 2022.
Furthermore in Dr Hudson’s large rural constituency which suffers from considerable connectivity challenges, many people are reliant on cars. Therefore, the fuel duty freeze will benefit his constituents greatly. National estimates put the average driver’s savings at around £200 a year.
Increasing the annual pension allowance to £60,000 and abolishing the Lifetime Allowance will help encourage more experienced professionals like doctors to stay working in our precious NHS.
A vet and scientist by background, Dr Hudson especially welcomed the huge boost to the UK’s research and development sector, which will see £500 million invested in small to medium R&D businesses and significant tax relief for those businesses investing in the UK’s innovative science future. Moreover, refocused English Investment Zones will now be tied to universities and research institutes, offering bold and imaginative partnerships with local government to propel growth in priority sectors such as green industries, digital technologies, and life sciences.
A budget that focussed on reducing regional inequalities, the North West will see the highest number of Levelling Up Regeneration Projects of any English region, 4,520 venues benefitting from draught relief and £26.6 million to fix potholes across the region.
Speaking after the announcement, Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border said:
“I’m well aware of the immense global challenges facing the UK economy so for the Chancellor to prioritise helping families with immediate costs, the Conservative Government can press ahead with halving inflation, growing the economy and reducing debt. Practical measures like increasing the annual pension allowance to £60,000 and abolishing the Lifetime Allowance will help encourage more experienced professionals like doctors to stay working in our precious NHS.
“Put simply, this budget will directly ease cost-of-living pressures for people across the whole country, so should rightly be celebrated.”
Commenting, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt added:
“A recovering economy will mean reduced inflation and lower mortgage rates, more affordable food and energy, and support for the NHS so people get the care they need more quickly.
“As we deliver on our promises to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt we are helping families with the cost of living immediately.
“And with a stronger economy, we will be able to strengthen communities and level up left behind areas, seize the opportunities of Brexit, protect Britain’s long-term interests and restore pride in our country.”
In summary, the Conservative Government’s Budget for Growth will focus on the Chancellor’s four pillars of Enterprise, Employment, Education and Everywhere by:
- 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
- Introducing a £25 billion three-year tax cut for business investment
- Increasing the annual pension allowance to £60,000 and abolishing the Lifetime Allowance
- 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
- Extending the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for three months
- Freezing fuel duty for a thirteenth year, saving the average driver around £200
- Delivering a Brexit Pub Guarantee so draught duty will always be less than duty in supermarkets
To read the Chancellor’s speech, a simplified budget factsheet and the document itself, follow this link: www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/spring-budget-2023
