Spring Budget 2023
March 15, 2023
Today’s Budget was just the tonic to negative outlook and naysaying that has plagued political discourse in the last six months. Rather than talk down our country, the Chancellor optimistically set the course for sustained economic growth.
Thanks to the measures taken by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement, Britain is no longer predicted to enter a recession – unlike many G20 countries. This is a testament to the strength of the British economy and the confidence global businesses have in investing in our country. Furthermore, with inflation set to plummet to 2.9% by the end of the year, the Government is well on its way to fulfil the economic priorities set out in the Prime Minister’s New Year message.
For families, the extension of the Energy Price Guarantee at the current rate of £2500 until the end of June provides reassurance that budgets will be protected until bills fall below the threshold due to the drop in wholesale energy prices.
I am also delighted to see the Chancellor recognise the financial burden of early year’s care by announcing an expansion of free childcare. Now, parents with children aged 1 or 2 can claim 30 hours’ worth of free childcare. Paired with bringing childcare ratios in line with our European neighbours, this should see childcare costs stabilise leaving more money in family budgets and allowing more parents to return to work if they choose to. Parents will be further helped back into the workplace by investment, which aims to have every school provide wraparound care between 8am to 6pm. This is great news for our economy and personal choice.
Staying in work is just as important as getting back into work for our economy. Working people will be pleased to hear the increase in the lifetime pension allowance from £1.07m to £1.8m. It is true that many working age people have been taking retirement earlier in recent years. This move should encourage people to stay in work for longer and allows people to build up a bigger pension pot. This is especially important for healthcare workers, for who the lifetime allowance has been scrapped, as one of the major issues raised in my York Health Audit pertaining to staff retention was unfavourable pensions and hopefully this matter is now resolved.
You cannot have all work and no play though. Having campaigned for support for our local pubs as community assets, I was thankful their disadvantage compared to supermarkets is being addressed with an extension to the draught duty cut worth 11p of a pint of beer. Swimming pools are another key community asset that are under pressure and I hope to see local pools, such as New Earswick Swimming Pool, take advantage of the £63 million worth of funding announced today.
While a range of tax adjustments aimed at boosting employment and investment were encouraging, I would have liked to see more done today to support businesses with their energy costs. I will continue to pursue this matter and raise this issue, alongside any others raised at my Business Club on Friday, with Ministers as we look to support businesses in the coming months.
