Last night MPs voted on the Budget resolutions, implementing the measures announced by the Chancellor last week in his Budget for Growth.
Despite enormous global challenges, the UK economy is proving the doubters wrong. The difficult decisions we have taken to restore stability mean that we have avoided recession and growth is forecast to return.
We are working hard to deliver on the Government’s priorities to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt so we can create better-paid jobs and opportunities across the United Kingdom.
This Budget focuses on the Chancellor’s four pillars of Enterprise, Employment, Education and Everywhere.
We are extending the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for three months, saving the typical family £160 on their energy bill and taking the total support over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to £94 billion – an average of £3,300 per household.
We will extend the 30 hours of free childcare a week to working parents of children aged 9 months to 4-years-old. This measure will benefit over 900 families and 1,800 children in the Forest of Dean, allowing more parents to take on the work that is right for them. We will also pay the childcare costs for parents on Universal Credit upfront, helping families manage budgets.
Other measures announced to stimulate economic growth and business investment includes at least three years of full expensing which allows businesses to reduce their tax bill when they invest in plant and machinery – rewarding them for every pound they invest in the UK.
This budget also delivers for motorists – freezing fuel duty for a thirteenth consecutive year, saving the average driver around £200. This comes alongside an important measure which I helped to secure in my role as Transport Secretary and will be of significant benefit locally – the £200 million of funding to improve roads and fix potholes, almost £4 million of which will be spent in Gloucestershire – enough to remove 60,000 potholes from our county’s roads.
These measures, and others, will remove the obstacles that stop businesses investing, tackle the labour shortages that stop them recruiting, break down the barriers that stop people working, and harness British ingenuity to make us a science and technology superpower.
This article was first published in The Forester newspaper.
