I was delighted with the measures announced by the Chancellor during his Budget. In his speech he reinforced this governments commitment to supporting working families, public services and businesses across the UK.
I welcome predictions that the UK economy will return to pre-COVID levels at the turn of the year, despite a challenging global situation the government’s economic response to COVID-19 has worked. As the Chancellor said, the budget does not draw a line under Covid but does begin the work of building an economy post-pandemic.
Spending on healthcare will increase by £44 billion to over £177 billion by the end of this parliament. I am delighted that the health sector will see record investment in research and development. More than £2 billion will be invested in the justice system with more funding for courts, prisons and probation services, and £500 million to reduce the backlog in courts. Each school and college will receive extra funding to help support the catch-up programme.
As a passionate Mental Health campaigner, I was delighted to hear that £300 million is to be invested into parenting programmes, with tailored services to help with perinatal mental health. Every child deserves the best possible start in life and investing in the early years sector will help to ensure that this is a possibility for all, and not a postcode lottery. More than half a billion will be invested into youth services, which will help to fund 300 youth clubs in England. I am also delighted that 30,000 new school places will be created for children with special needs and disabilities, so that they can access the specialist support that they need.
Further measures such as an increase to the national living wage, no rise in fuel duty, a freeze to alcohol duty, changes to Universal Credit giving a £1,000 pay rise to 2 million of the lowest paid, and more than £11 billion for new affordable homes shows that this government is working hard to strengthen our public finances and ensure our debt is falling.
This Budget will make a real difference to people in Watford, helping working families with the cost of living, supporting businesses with their recovery, and investing in our public services so that everyone gets the world class hospitals, schools, and police services they deserve.
I was elected on a promise to improve opportunity for people in Watford and today’s Budget shows how this Government is delivering on that promise as we build back better. Our recovery will be stronger than expected and this is something that we can all welcome.
