Wednesday’s Budget was a sensible, boring one that fitted the difficult financial circumstances we are still in. It was reassuring to hear the UK is now predicted to avoid entering a recession, and that inflation will be back down to near normal by the end of the year. The UK economy is tougher than some people would have you believe, despite having to cope with the double hit of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine that has helped drive sky-high inflation we’ve seen around the world.
It did however contain several bits of good news for Pendle, and especially for working families with the news the 30 hours of free childcare will be extended to children as young as 9 months. This will come in from 2025 and be worth £6,500 per child, allowing parents to take up more work.
Many will welcome the end to the unfair situation where households using prepayment meters were paying more for energy than others. For those four million households, their energy will be adjusting through the Energy Price Guarantee to ensure fairness and will save about £45 a year. This was alongside the welcome news the Energy Price Guarantee is being kept at the same level for three more months, extending the protection we’re all getting on our energy bills.
I was also pleased to see fuel duty frozen for the thirteenth year in a row. This will save the average driver around £200 since the duty was cut 5p last year. Motorists will also welcome the £26.6 million to fix up the North West’s roads – enough to fill over half a million potholes.
I’ll also be looking to work with Pendle Leisure Trust in helping them access the new £60 million Swimming Pool Support Fund, set up to help keep our local public swimming pools open whilst energy prices remain high, as well as investing in energy efficiency to protect them long-term.
Times remain hard for most people and getting our economy back growing again at a healthy pace won’t happen overnight. But the Budget showed that under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his plan to halve inflation, get debt falling and grow the economy we are getting back on track.
