This week’s big, bold, reforming budget sets out the Government’s plan for creating the stable and prosperous Britain that its hard working people deserve and, importantly, it includes key measure that will deliver tangible benefit for the people of East Hampshire.
Over the last five years, the economy has gone from strength to strength - Britain is growing faster than any other major advanced economy and is set to continue to do so for the second year running. The difficult spending decisions that helped facilitate this must however continue: whilst the deficit has been halved since 2010, it is still 4.9% of GDP. To address this the Government has outlined a balanced plan to cut the deficit over the course of this Parliament with a view to moving into a surplus by 2019-20. A new Charter for Budget Responsibility will require that governments going forward maintain this surplus in normal times, securing a sustainable approach to government spending in the future.
The budget outlined a number of measures to ensure this improving economic prosperity is mirrored at the household level. The Personal Allowance will be increased in 2016 to £11,000, and will rise to £12,500 by the end of the decade. This means that by April 2016, 802 people in East Hampshire will be taken out of tax altogether, and over 47,000 will benefit from a higher proportion of their income being tax free.
As well as ensuring that East Hampshire’s people keep a higher proportion of their pay packets post-tax, a new National Living Wage for the over 25s will boost the value of pay packets pre-tax. In April next year the national minimum wage will rise to £7.20 per hour, providing 2.5 million people in the UK with a pay rise. By 2020, this will rise to £9, boosting full-time workers pay by over £5,000.
Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy. The Government has maintained its commitment to them, cutting Corporation Tax to 18% and extending the Employment Allowance to £3,000. This means that businesses in East Hampshire that employ up to four people will pay no National Insurance.
Local businesses have done an excellent job in providing local people with quality apprenticeship opportunities; between 2010 and 2015 2,700 new apprenticeships were started in East Hampshire. This budget has maintained the Government’s commitment to supporting these programmes by introducing an apprenticeship levy on large firms. The cash this generates will be used to fund 3 million more apprenticeships, delivering the opportunity to build valuable occupational skills to 3 million more people.
This budget has confirmed additional support for hard working mums and dads: working parents will soon benefit from an additional 15 hours of free childcare for their 3 and 4 year olds, taking the total to 30 hours.
Fuel duty remain frozen, a particularly welcome measure for a rural area like East Hampshire. Over the last few years, this freeze has saved motorists an average of £9 a tank compared to the previous Labour government’s plans.
Damian said:
“With a budget deficit still close to 5% of GDP there have been difficult decisions to make to get the nation back in the black by the end of this parliament. But we're on a journey to a higher-productivity, higher-wage, lower-tax, less welfare-reliant economy. This week's Budget mapped out how we'll get there.”