The Chancellor delivered the budget on Wednesday and made some key announcements that will positively affect many in the constituency. The budget is an investment for the long-term while supporting families and businesses under pressure now. It is setting us on the path to a more prosperous and productive Britain. While I was pleased to see changes made to Universal Credit, stamp duty, and single-use plastic items, it is also important to look at some of the other changes affecting housing, businesses, and the NHS.
NHS
£2.8 billion of resource funding is being given to improve NHS performance and ensure more patients receive the care they need more quickly. £335 million of this will be provided this year, to help the NHS to increase capacity over winter. £1.6 billion will be provided in 2018-19 – taking the overall increase in the NHS’s resource budget next year to £3.75 billion. £900 million will be provided in 2019-20, to help address future pressures. The Government remains committed to increasing NHS spending by a minimum of £8 billion in real terms by the end of this Parliament.
I was disappointed not to see any new money for social care however I look forward to the Green Paper in 2018 and will be working with care homes in the meantime to make sure they are able to continue to operate effectively.
Housing
Over the next five years the Government will provide a £44 billion capital investment to boost the housing market. £1.5 billion is being provided for the Home Building Fund, providing loans specifically targeted at supporting SMEs who cannot access the finance they need to build. By the mid-2020s there should be 300,000 homes being built every year – the highest level of house building since the 1970s!
Supporting Business
Small businesses are under great pressure at the moment and this was recognised by the Chancellor in the budget. The budget brought forward the planned business rates switch from RPI to CPI to April 2018, worth £2.3 billion to businesses over the next five years.
To support thousands of small pubs, the £1,000 discount for pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000 is being extended to March 2019. Whilst duties on ciders, wines, spirits, and beers are being frozen, taxes will be increased on cheap, high strength, low quality alcohol such as white ciders. This is in order to tackle excessive consumption of these ciders by the most vulnerable people in society including the homeless and the young.
A National Retraining Scheme is being introduced to help people adapt to the changing world of work. The Government will enter into a formal skills partnership with the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry, to develop the National Retraining Scheme. Together they will help set the strategic priorities for the scheme and oversee its implementation, working with new Skills Advisory Panels to ensure that local economies’ needs are reflected.
The National Retraining Partnership will oversee targeted short-term action in sectors with skills shortages, initially focussing on construction and digital skills. Alongside the government’s investment in housing and construction, the government will invest £30 million to test the use of AI and innovative EdTech in online digital skills courses so that learners can benefit from this emerging technology, wherever they are in the country. There will also be new employer-designed courses in construction and digital.