Last week people in living in Mid Cornwall were shown once
again that they can count on the support of this Government to help them
through hard times.
We must, however, remember that as we emerge from the
pandemic the aftermath of the once in a hundred year event will be felt for
some time to come, and that the steps we are taking to sanction Putin for the
continued war in Ukraine are also not cost free for us at home.
The biggest impact will be on the cost of living for working
families and I understand it is a big concern for many people living in the
constituency and rightly so.
Rest assured that this Government is constantly listening to
people's needs and responding to new challenges. That is why last week the
Chancellor announced a new package of measures, which will see the biggest cut
to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century to support not only workers
and employers, but also help the most vulnerable.
These steps include:
• Immediately
slashing fuel duty by 5p for only the second cut in twenty years, the largest
ever cut across all fuel duty rates. Conservative governments have frozen fuel
duty for twelve consecutive years, but in recognition of the unprecedented
circumstances pushing up fuel prices, this Government has gone even further and
will be saving on average, car drivers £100, van drivers £200, and HGV drivers
£1,500 this year. Furthermore, 40 per cent of the cut will benefit businesses.
• Doubling
the Household Support Fund - money for councils to support vulnerable
households - to £1 billion from April, which is expected to help 3 to 4 million
vulnerable households.
• Raising the
threshold people earn before they pay National Insurance. From July, people
will be able to earn £12,570 a year without paying a single penny of income tax
or National Insurance, a £6 billion personal tax cut for 30 million people
across the United Kingdom and a tax cut for employees worth over £330 a year.
This is the largest increase in a basic rate threshold ever, and the largest
single personal tax cut in a decade.
• Around 70
per cent of all workers will also have their taxes cut by more than what they
will pay through the levy to sustainably fund the NHS and social care.
• Increasing
the Employment Allowance to £5,000, a tax cut worth up to £1,000 for half a
million small businesses.
The Chancellor also announced that in 2024, for the first
time in sixteen years, the basic rate of income tax will be cut from 20% to
19%, a £5billion tax cut for over 30 million people.
I am pleased, but not surprised to see the Government
recognise that it must once again do everything it can to help families in Mid
Cornwall through these challenging times.
I know that some people will say these measures don’t go far
enough to help people. However, you only have to look at this Government’s
response to the pandemic to see how far it will go to ensure people receive the
help they need. This Government took unprecedented action to support families,
individuals and businesses through the furlough scheme and others, saving
millions of jobs and thousands of businesses.
The Government has also already taken steps to help with the
cost of living which has included reducing the Universal Credit taper rate,
increasing the National Living Wage, and launching the Household Support Fund
to help the lowest-income households with their bills.
Earlier this year the Chancellor also announced the Energy
Bills Rebate, which will help households across the constituency with £9billion
of support measures, including a £200 ‘smoothing’ rebate on energy bills for
households, a non-repayable £150 cash rebate for homes in Council Tax bands
A-D, equivalent to 80% of all households, and providing Cornwall Council with a
discretionary fund of nearly £150m to help lower income households in higher
Council Tax bands.
However, we can’t just continue to spend without limits, and
it is only because this Government is capable of making responsible decisions
to fix our public finances that we can help people out when they need it the
most.
As ever, if I can be of any further assistance, my office is
available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance – tel. 01726
829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk
