Budget 2020 - delivering economic growth
The last few decades have seen our economy become more centralised, with a concentration of investment, and so opportunity, in our big cities, in London and in the South East - it’s the cities that have prospered whilst our towns and villages have been left behind.
Look at London, it’s been booming, but if you want to start a business in one of our Yorkshire towns, such as Penistone or Stocksbridge, you’d be lucky if you found a bank to help you with a start-up loan; indeed you may not find a bank at all.
Comparing local transport services makes this case well. If you want to travel from Croydon to central London to work, you can choose from over 20 services an hour, with a journey time of around 20 minutes. If you want to get to Sheffield from Penistone – a similar distance - you can expect a journey time of 45 minutes and just one train an hour.
As the Prime Minister said, ‘Talent is spread evenly across our country but opportunity is not.’ So I welcome Rishi Sunak's budget, a budget that will see opportunity spread across every part of the UK.
During the 2019 election campaign people on doorsteps across Penistone and Stocksbridge told me about their poor bus and train services, the lack of opportunities for young people and frustration about losing out to big cities. Our manifesto promises of investment in public transport, in hospitals, in GPs and in schools were all welcomed and are something this budget addresses.
If this budget is about one thing – it’s about delivering on our promises. We want people across the UK – but especially in the North and in our left behind towns – to understand that we meant what we said and we will do what it takes.
Budget headlines for our area
- Radical improvement in our public transport network with the £4.2bn Transforming Cities Fund for city regions which includes Sheffield City Region
- Development of bus and cycle routes with £5bn to support the National Bus Strategy
- A £53m fund to fix potholes across Yorkshire and Humberside
- Better flood defences in Sheffield with funding of £25m
- Reduced congestion with upgrades to the A61 Westwood roundabout near Tankersley
- Economic growth through confirmation of the £3.6bn Towns Fund - Stocksbridge is bidding for up to £25m
This budget sets out a path for our future prosperity; a future where opportunity and growth is shared fairly across our country. Key to our success will be making sure we support people in areas like Penistone and Stocksbridge so that they can start, and grow, their own businesses, to employ local people, to aid economic growth and to create wealth for the benefit of all.
Rishi Sunak has well and truly stoked the engines of the Northern Powerhouse and I'll be working hard to make sure local people can take advantage of the opportunities this Government has created.
Summary of other important budget announcements:
Action on Coronavirus, including:
- £5bn response fund for the NHS
- Statutory Sick Pay or Employment Support Allowance from day 1 if you are told to self-isolate
- Relief for small businesses, including cuts in business rates (including retail, leisure and hospitality), cashflow loans, a £3,000 cash boost for the smallest businesses and refunds for sick pay paid out due to Coronavirus
Action on low pay and the cost of living:
- Increase in the National Living Wage to two thirds of the median income by 2024 (current forecasts suggest this will raise NLW to £10.24 per hour)
- Increase in threshold for National Insurance to £9500 per year
- Freeze in duties on fuel, beer, cider and wine
- £9.5bn for affordable homes
- Cheaper borrowing for Local Authorities to build council houses
Action on Infrastructure
- £600bn to upgrade, improve and enhance UK infrastructure over the next 5 years
- £5bn to roll out gigabit broadband
- £510m for shared rural phone network
Action on jobs and skills
- £3bn National Skills Fund
- £1.5bn for Further Education colleges
- Increased employment allowance of £4,000 to help small businesses to employ more people
- £130m for start-up loans to help people start their own business
- £230m for the British Business Bank to provide small businesses with scale-up loans
Action on the Environment
- Increased taxes on pollution
- Introduction of a plastic packaging tax from 2022
- Stopping tax relief on ‘Red Diesel’ - except for agricultural use
- £500m for electric vehicle rapid charge points - providing at least one every 30 miles
- £640m Nature for Climate Fund including planting 30,000 hectares of trees and restoring 30,000 hectares of peat bog
Action for vulnerable people
- Mental health support for Armed Forces personnel
- £650m to end rough sleeping
- £2.5m to progress the Family Hubs programme
- Building Safety Fund to allow all unsafe cladding to be removed from high rise flats
You can find more information about Budget 2020 here
