Mail Weekly Column: 11 March 2024
Last week the Chancellor delivered his Budget from the House of Commons. There is a simply hideous amount of work that goes into these events, from working out the cost and implications of each announcement, to taking soundings from key organisations about them, hearing from a wide range of stakeholders about what they would like to see, and listening to the incessant lobbying from backbench MPs such as myself.
I’ve been working with Number 10 and the Treasury closely on #TeamBarrow projects over the last few months and the upcoming announcements over those have been my priority. However, I have also not been shy on pushing for a number of measures in the Budget - not least on fuel and alcohol duty, support for small businesses, and on the Household Support Fund.
The headline measures that the Chancellor announced show the progress that is being made, following the fuel and food price shocks we’ve experienced post-COVID and after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Headline inflation is now more than halved to 4%, the economy is growing, energy prices are falling, and debt is also set to fall. This is all for the good, but we’re not out of the woods yet, and I’m well aware from my weekly surgeries and mail bag that people are still feeling far too much of the pinch.
So making sure that people can keep more of the money they earn is a priority. For this reason, the Chancellor announced announced a further 2% cut to National Insurance. When taken together with the measures from the autumn, it means that 27 million employees on an average salary will receive a tax cut of £900 and 2 million self-employed people receive a tax cut averaging £650. Independent analysis suggests that this will encourage 200,000 workers into the workforce, filling one in five vacancies across the economy - something which local SMEs and hospitality and tourism firms are crying out for.
There was also an important measure on child benefit in the Budget - as a result of changes to the High Income Child Benefit Charge, up to half a million families will gain an average of almost £1,300, and 170,000 families will be taken out of paying the charge altogether. The system is also currently unfair on single earner families, a consultation has been launched on introducing a household-based system, which will take some time to set up so it will be introduced in the next two years.
Finally, I was very glad to see the Pensions Triple Lock protected - meaning that from next month there will be an increase of 8.5% - one of the largest ever.
Away from the Budget, I have been busy holding surgeries, meeting with local businesses, knocking on people’s doors (I can only apologise!), speaking with the Council on a range of issues, and having the honour of celebrating the Cumbria Community Foundation’s work at Abbey House Hotel on Thursday. We are fortunate to have such a remarkable organisation supporting our community, and for there to be so many groups working across Furness to help those who most need support.
My final note is on Ulverston Library. Since submitting a parliamentary petition on the issue, speaking with DCMS, and holding constituency meetings and surgeries on the subject, I sat down with the Council on Friday, pushing for an update. The good news is that shortly - very shortly - the pop-up provision will move to the Ante Room in the Coro - a much larger space, with the children’s library held in an annex of the Coro too. This will move a full service to one site, which I’m sure will be a relief. Meanwhile work continues on the options appraisal and a public consultation and further updates will soon be issued by the Council on the subject. We all want this to move quickly and to get a full service up and running, but I believe this will be a positive step - and I will keep pushing for things to move faster.
