Chancellor’s help is first step on way to cheaper bills for all
“A little breathing space.”, that is what was offered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP, when he stood in the House of Commons on Wednesday last week and delivered the first budget of the Andy Burnham Government.
My yardstick for any event like this in Parliament is always, what does it mean for Stoke-on-Trent Central and what does it do to help the people I represent and who sent me to Parliament in the first place.
By the standards of the last couple of budgets, this was a much calmer event and within the pages of the budget book, there are some real measures which will take the edge of the cost of living crisis which we have all been living through.
By far the biggest move by the Chancellor that has direct benefits across Fenton, Longton, Stoke and Hanley – and all the communities in between – is the £100 payment to help with the rising energy costs.
Those energy costs are rising because of the wars in Ukraine and Iran and there is little that we can do at home to solve them. Therefore a £100 payment to every household in council tax bands A-D will help 53,000 households in my constituency. But sitting alongside that was the cutting VAT on electricity to 0%, bringing down bills by an immediate 20% and starting work on scrapping standing charges for gas bills.
These may seem like small steps, but they are the first on a journey to truly cheaper bills for everyone and within a system where we are not subjected to price-shocks on global gas markets caused by foreign wars.
Our high streets were given a helping hand too. Across Stoke-on-Trent, almost 1000 pubs, restaurants and leisure businesses will see their business rates frozen until the end of 2029 and this is on top of the extra relief announced earlier this year. For some smaller pubs and restaurants, they will pay no business rates at all while others will see more generous discounts.
I know that times have been tough for our high streets and while these measures don’t solve all the problems, they are a downpayment on more to come to rejuvenate town centres and support the small businesses who are at the heart of our local economy.
The budget also righted some of the social wrongs that have lingered for too long. Self-employed dads will, for the first time from 2029, be eligible for paid paternity leave to support their new families without having to worry about how bills will be paid.
New support for pensioners was also unveiled meaning no pensioner receiving just the state pension will have to pay income tax on that pension. Mineworkers who, during some of the most challenging times in our history, provided the fuel that kept the lights on the industry running will now see all the surplus of their pension fund distributed to eligible pensioners.
For families around Stoke-on-Trent Central, these measures will provide breathing space against the current challenges, but it is just the start of more help to come from a Government that is committed to improving the lives of everyone in our city.