Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond set out the Government’s plans that lay the foundations for a Britain fit for the future – investing for the long-term while supporting families, businesses and our precious public services, setting a path to a more prosperous Britain.
Hard-working families will once again be rewarded with a further increase in the National Living Wage and an increase in their personal tax allowances rising to £12,500 next April, up from £6,475 when the Government came to power in 2010. This, combined with another freeze in fuel duty saving families more money at the pumps is to be welcomed.
With more people than ever using our National Health Service the Government have backed their words with action and have committed a cash injection to support our precious National Health Service. Under the Government’s plan, NHS funding will grow year on year and by 2023-24 by £20.5 billion in real terms compared with today. That means there will be £394 million a week of additional resource in real terms supporting our precious NHS. The Government also committed an additional £650 million in grant funding to support Social Care which will go directly to our local Councils and additional support for the magnificent work undertaken by the Air Ambulance.
Walsall Council will also benefit from a share of the £420 million additional investment to combat potholes and new monies to upgrade local roads across our area. This combined with more than £20 billion of investment to our major motorways will help ensure that we are keeping Britain moving.
I was also particularly interested that calls from our High Streets and small businesses have been heard and listened to by The Chancellor. By cutting business rates by a third and outlining a new ‘Future High Streets Fund’ supported with £675 million of additional resources to help transform our High Streets, I really hope to see this benefit our High Streets across Aldridge-Brownhills, as well as to see change at Ravens Court in Brownhills.
The Government remain focussed on ensuring that we create a Britain that works for everyone. Today’s Budget is another important step towards achieving our ambitions for Britain and repays all the hard work of taxpayers since the financial crisis, delivering a budget for all hard-working families across Aldridge-Brownhills.