Since first becoming your Member of Parliament here in South Swindon in 2010, I have fought hard to maintain and grow a strong local economy that is supportive of businesses and creates jobs, so yesterday’s Budget for Growth was welcome news.
In my newsletter, I will break down the Budget and what it means for us all here in Swindon. Because it was a good one. From childcare allowances, universal support for those on Universal Credit; pensions extension, to the energy price cap. Despite enormous global challenges, the difficult decisions the Conservative Government has made to restore stability means that we have avoided recession and growth is forecast to return.
We are working hard to deliver on the Government's priorities to halve inflation, grown the economy and reduce debt, so we can create better-paid jobs and opportunities across the United Kingdom, including here in South Swindon. The Budget for Growth focusses on the Chancellor’s four pillars of Enterprise, Employment, Education and Everywhere.
Driving Down Childcare Costs For Parents In Swindon
The Government is significantly expanding the support on offer by providing 30 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks a year, for eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to 3 years. This will be rolled out in phases from April 2024 and is in addition to the 30 hours a week already provided for eligible working parents of 3 to 4-year-olds. The Government will also provide £204 million in 2023-24, increasing to £288 million in 2024-25, to substantially uplift the hourly funding rate paid to providers to deliver the existing free hours offers in England.
Keeping Doctors at Swindon's Great Western Hospital
There was great news for us all here in Swindon last month, when the Government announced that they had awarded more than £26 million of funding to Great Western Hospital to expand urgent and emergency care.
This Government investment comes on top of £5.4 million in internal funding available to the Trust, and represents the biggest ever investment to the hospital site and one of the biggest that the NHS in the South West has seen.
Greater bed capacity and better flow through the hospital will better equip it to manage increasing demand from the area’s growing population.
It is important that we retain a workforce at our newly expanded hospital, and yesterday’s announcement by the Chancellor abolishing the lifetime allowance, and increasing the annual allowance to £60,000 will help us to meet the ever-increasing health needs of Swindon.
Energy Costs
The single biggest challenge in Swindon at the moment is the cost of living, and one of the most significant contributory factors is the rocketing of energy prices. The Government has already delivered hundreds of pounds worth of support to houses through this winter through the energy price guarantee - you will have seen it on your bills. I am delighted that this will continue until at least July.
Cheaper Fuel
Fuel duty has again been frozen -saving hundreds of pounds for every motorist in Swindon. Politics is about choices - Labour have opposed this at every turn. It matters - the cost of living remains the biggest challenge in Swindon at the moment and I am determined to address it.
Repairing Potholes
Potholes after a winter like we have had, need attention, so it was good to be awarded extra money to deal with this real nuisance.
There’s More
There is of course a lot more on the Budget including the great news that we are not forecast to enter a recession, that inflation will be lower than 3% by Christmas, that our debt as a Nation is reducing and that the Government will work even harder to get people into work and increase our productivity as a Nation. It is worth reading the whole document, which you can access by clicking here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2023/spring-budget-2023-html
