Dear Constituent,

Budget Special Newsletter:

Yesterday, the Chancellor set out the Spring Budget, which I generally welcomed. I was pleased to speak in the cebate held after the announcement, which you can read here or watch back here.

Below is also a recap of some of the key measures announced by the Chancellor, as well as what they mean for residents and businesses in Amber Valley. 

Have your say – Budget survey:

I’ve also set up a survey for you to let me know your thoughts on the Budget announcements, which you can fill in here. 

Economic update:

Steady economic progress continues to be made by the Government. Interest rates are coming back down from their peak. Inflation was halved towards the end of last year and is expected to fall below 2% in a few months. Wages are rising faster than prices, which means we can more easily maintain or improve our standard of living.

Thanks to the healthy state of the British economy, the Chancellor was able to build on the measures which he announced in his Autumn Statement. Indeed, the theme of yesterday’s Budget very much remains supporting businesses and rewarding hard-working people. With respect to the former, fewer small businesses will pay VAT and full expensing for businesses is going to be extended. As for the latter, Taxes have been cut again, which will benefit 29 million workers: the personal tax rate is now the lowest since 1975. Indeed, the Autumn Statement and Spring Budget together deliver cuts totalling £20 billion.

I am pleased that the Household Support Fund is being extended again. In addition, the Chancellor’s support for families continues: the Chancellor has widened the child benefit net and reiterated his commitment to guarantee working parents of two-year-olds in England access to 15 hours of free childcare.

Other measures include:

Further Cuts to National Insurance & Tax Reform:

• Having already cut Employee National Insurance from by 2% in the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced another 2% cut yesterday. From April 2024 onwards, the rate will be 8% and the average employee will have an additional £450 a year in their pocket. Compared to this time last year, an individual on £35,400 will receive a tax cut of over £900.
• Self-employed National Insurance rates – which affect 2 million people – have also been cut by 2% – from 8% to 6%. This will save the average self-employed person on £28,000 over £650 compared to last year when combined with scrapping the requirement to pay Class 2 National Insurance Contributions announced at Autumn Statement.
• Due to these cuts, the personal tax rate for the average British worker is lower compared to that of workers in the US, France, or Germany.
• While I welcome all of the above, the Chancellor’s announcement indicated that he would like to make the tax system simpler – by abolishing National Insurance completely when we can afford it. In the Budget Debate, I proposed that we could transfer the National Insurance burden onto Income Tax so that there is a single type.

Business Support Measures

• Small businesses are key to our high streets and local economy. The Chancellor is increasing the VAT registration threshold for small businesses from £85,000 to £90,000 – the highest threshold across the EU and OECD. This allows small businesses to focus on other priorities, such as hiring new staff to help grow the economy.
• The Chancellor also announced that draft legislation will be introduced within weeks to extend full expensing to assets for leasing at some later date – a £10 billion tax cut.

Child Benefits and Childcare

• The Spring Budget continues to support parents. The Chancellor committed to assessing the High-Income Child Benefit Charge – a consultation will be launched to decide whether the child benefit should apply to collective household income rather than on an individual basis. As I said in the Chamber, I look forward to this consultation.
• For now, the High-Income Child Benefit Charge threshold will be raised from £50,000 to £60,000. The top of the taper at which the benefit is withdrawn is raised to £80,000. This will support 500,000 families, who will each save £1,260.
• The Chancellor has also guaranteed funding rates to nurseries and pre-schools for the next two years to deliver the Government’s expanded free childcare pledge. This will enable an extra 60,000 parents to enter the work force over the next four years.

Cost of Living Support

• As I mentioned in my contribution to the Budget Debate, I know that cost of living is a very important issue.
• The Household Support Fund has also been extended for another six months. £500 million will be available to help struggling households with essentials, such as food and utilities.
• As the Chair of the APPG on Universal Credit, I was pleased to see that the maximum period for Universal Credit budgeting advances has been extended from 12 to 24 months.
• In addition, many have written to me expressing concerns about alcohol and fuel duties. As such, I am pleased that the alcohol duty freeze has been extended until February 2025, alleviating pressure on the hospitality sector.
• Additionally, the Chancellor has maintained the 5p cut to fuel duty – freezing rates for the 14^th consecutive year. In effect, this saves the average car driver around £50 per year.

NHS Reform and Investment

• I receive lots of emails about the funding, quality, and efficiency. I share your concerns: we need not only a properly funded NHS, but an efficient one too that is able to deliver high quality care.
• As such, I hope you will join me in welcoming the Chancellor’s £6 billion investment into the NHS. Just under half of this amount will go towards boosting everyday services, maternity care, and getting waiting lists down – one of the Prime Minister’s five pledges. The other £3.4 billion will be used to improve the productivity of the NHS – better technology will be implemented to make the ways of working more efficient.

You can find the Budget in full here.

An Update from Parliament in the lead up to the Budget:

Unlocking the Opportunities of East Midlands Infrastructure Event

On 20^th February, I sponsored an event in Westminster which brought together local authority leaders, MPs, experts, and businesses to discuss benefits and opportunities of investment in the East Midlands. This part of the UK has such a diverse economy, mature supply chains, and is home to a number of academic institutions – it simply does not deserve the little investment that it receives. At the event, it was noted that a good transport network plays a key role in productivity – it can foster trade relationships, move business freight, and makes it easier for workers to commute. Indeed, I called for ministerial support on 2 key schemes: the Midland Main Line Electrification and A46 Newark Bypass.

Grassroots Sport Facilities

I’m happy to hear the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has provided Amber Valley with nearly £900,000 for grassroots sport facilities. Around two-thirds of this will go towards a new 3G pitch and pavilion upgrade for Sleetmoor United, while one-third will fund a new pavilion for the Charles Hill Sports Complex.

Dental Provision

From your emails and phone calls, I recognise that dental provision is a key issue in Amber Valley. I therefore welcome the £200 million Dental Recovery Plan, which will benefit those who have not had a check-up in two years.

Funding for Local Authorities and the Cost of Residential Placement for Children in Care

In the House of Commons Chamber earlier this week, I asked the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, Michael Gove, what steps he is taking to help ensure the financial sustainability of local authorities. I was pleased with his response – that authorities will receive £64.7 billion for 2024-25. I also raised with him the fact that the cost of residential placement for looked-after children is too high for Derbyshire County Council. I am glad he agreed – it is private equity firms that are operating like ‘bandits’. Mr Gove assures me that action will be taken by his Department, I await the outcome of these efforts. You can find the full debate here.

Street Watch:

As always, if there are any street repairs in your area, such as potholes, pavement repairs or broken street lights, you can report these issues and concerns to me quickly and easily here so I can ask for the repairs to be investigated and addressed.

GDPR and privacy notice:

Data laws changed with the introduction of the new GDPR legislation: you can find my office’s privacy policy here and, if you don’t want to receive these emails anymore, you can unsubscribe here.

Get in Touch!

As always, you can contact me by hitting the ‘reply’ button on this email, or you can ring my office on 01773 744341.

Twitter and Facebook

You can also follow me on Twitter @NigelMills and like me on Facebook here to stay up to date with news and events in Amber Valley throughout the month.

Yours sincerely,

Nigel

Promoted by Nigel Mills MP, of Unicorn House, Wellington Street, Ripley, Derbyshire, DE5 3EH.