Last Wednesday’s Budget is part of the long-term plan to give economic security to the UK. As a result, next year 4,742 Crawley households will be taken out of paying income tax altogether and 46,316 will see a reduced bill.
Support for savers was at the centre of this Budget by abolishing the 10 pence rate on savings income and introducing a new pensioner bond and from April 2015 all remaining tax restrictions on how to access pension pots will go.
Cutting taxes, letting hardworking people keep more of the money they earn was a key aspect of the Budget with the personal allowance rising to £10,500 in 2015/16.
A tax cut for 25.4 million people. By April 2015, a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay £800 less income tax a year.
I recently visited Gala Bingo in Crawley and am pleased to report that tax halved from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
A package saving households, businesses and manufacturers £7 billion will cut the cost of manufacturing by cutting energy bills. This will help households, manufacturers and energy intensive industries with the cost of energy.
Capping the Carbon Price Support rate saves a mid-sized manufacturer almost £50,000 on their annual energy bill, and saves families £15 a year on their bills.
The Budget backed business, exports and investments by doubling the Annual Investment Allowance to £500,000 as well as doubling the amount of lending available to £3 billion and from today the typical interest rates we charge on that lending will be cut by a third.
From April 2015, the two highest rates of Air Passenger Duty will be abolished which is good for Gatwick companies. Long haul flights will be in the same lower band rate as flights to the US.
The independent Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts the economy is continuing to recover.
Growth this year is set to be 2.7% – the biggest upward revision between budgets for at least 30 years. This means the economy will be £16 billion bigger than forecasts just four months ago. 1.5 million more jobs forecast over the next five years. Unemployment will fall to just over 5%. Real earnings will grow in every year of the forecast – helped by the real terms increase in the minimum wage. There are a record number of people in work – and each job means a family more secure.
The deficit is down by a third – next year, it will halve. The deficit will fall to 5.5% next year. By 2018/19, we will have a small surplus of almost £5 billion. We will borrow £24bn less than forecast at the Autumn Statement.
Debt forecast has been revised down in every year of the forecast. We will meet the debt target one year late – debt will peak at 78.7% in 2015/16, then start falling. Lower debt interest payments save every family £2,000. We need to stick to the long term economic plan that’s working for Crawley and our country.