Earlier today, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined a Budget and Spending Review to deliver a strong economy for the British people and for Elmbridge.
First up, there were significant measures to boost incomes and cut the cost of living. To boost incomes, the National Living Wage will be increased by 6.6%, to £9.50 per hour, from April next year. The ‘taper rate’ in Universal Credit, which cuts UC payments as people earn more, will also be cut from 63% to 55% - ensuring that people keep more of their hard-earned money.
To cut the cost of living, fuel duty will be frozen for the 12th year in a row next year, saving the average driver £1,900 since 2010. Taxes on beer, cider, wine and spirits will be frozen for another year, saving consumers £3bn over the next five years.
There was also good news on several of my priority areas for Elmbridge:
- Helping local businesses to recover from the pandemic. The Chancellor announced measures to reduce the burden of business rates in England by over £7bn over the next five years. Next year, 90% of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will see a business rates discount of at least 50%. The multiplier will also be frozen, while from 2023 no business will face higher rates for 12 months after making qualifying improvements to their property.
- Improving our local schools. The Budget and Spending Review confirmed an additional £4.7bn for the schools budget by 2024/25. Together with previous funding boosts, this means an increase of over £1,500 per pupil compared to 2019/20.
- A safer Elmbridge. To keep our communities safe, the government will provide an extra £540m by 2024/25 to recruit the final 8,000 police officers towards the government’s commitment of 20,000 additional officers.
- Investing in our local NHS. In all, spending on health services will increase by over £44bn over the course of this Parliament. This will fund the 50,000 more nurses that the government is committed to delivering, as well as 50 million more GP appointments each year.
- Better local transport services. I know that many Elmbridge residents suffer from driving on poor quality local roads. To address this, the Budget and Spending Review invests over £495m in the South East between 2022/23 and 2024/25 – enough to fill over 7 million potholes. There will also be over £2bn of investment in cycling and walking infrastructure across the country, helping residents to make more environmentally friendly travel choices.
These measures are good news for local residents, and I’ll be working hard to make sure we see the benefits in our communities.