I know that many constituents will have been paying close attention to the Chancellor’s Budget yesterday.
The country is moving in the right direction: inflation has been halved, the economy has grown faster than both Germany and France and is predicted to continue to do so, and employment remains at high levels. I am pleased that our progress has enabled the Chancellor to responsibly implement the following measures to help people in Horsham and across the country.
- Cut taxes for 27 million working people from April, by reducing the main rate of employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Combined with the cut at the Autumn Statement, that is a tax cut of around £1050 for the average worker in the Horsham constituency. This gives the average earner the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975.
- Cut taxes for two million of the self-employed, by cutting the main rate of Class 4 NICs from nine per cent to six per cent.
- Support half a million families through changes to the High Income Child Benefit Charge by raising the threshold and halving the rate at which Child Benefit is withdrawn, benefiting some parents by an average of £1,260. The Chancellor also set out plans to end the unfairness for single earner families.
- Reduce debt, with overall debt beginning to fall next year and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasting we will meet our fiscal rule to have debt falling as a share of the economy.
- Freeze alcohol duty, alleviating pressure on the hospitality sector.
- Maintain the five pence cut to fuel duty and freeze rates for the fourteenth consecutive year, helping keep motoring costs down – a £3.1 billion tax cut for drivers.
- Increase the VAT registration threshold for small businesses.
- Support and reform the NHS with £2.45 billion for next year and a new £3.4 billion productivity plan, saving money, freeing up clinicians’ time to focus on patients, and cut wait times.
I welcome these sensible measures, which will help grow the economy and ensure we continue our progress.