A raft of measures announced by the Chancellor will benefit local residents, Stuart Anderson has said. South Shropshire’s Conservatives Parliamentary Candidate welcomed the Chancellor’s Spring Budget. He said it will deliver long-term growth for the county - with tax cuts for millions of hard-working people and their families. The Chancellor announced a further cut in National Insurance Contributions from ten per cent to eight per cent, worth around £450 a year for the average worker. Stuart said that he welcomed the measure, which will put more money in the pockets of 2.5 million workers across the West Midlands.
The tax cut is in addition to that announced at the Autumn Statement and means the average worker will save £900. Since many people in Shropshire such as farmers work on a self-employed basis, Stuart also welcomed the Government’s move to cut a further 2p from the main rate of self-employed National Insurance on top of the 1p cut announced at Autumn Statement. This is a tax cut of £650 for an average self-employed person. A person on the average wage now has the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975.
Reflecting the Government’s commitment to helping farmers, it will extend the existing scope of agricultural property relief from 6 April 2025 to land managed under an environmental (ELM) agreement. Stuart welcomed this support, in addition to the decision to maintain the five pence cut to fuel duty and freeze rates for the fourteenth consecutive year - helping to keep motoring costs down in rural areas like Shropshire. This represents a tax cut for drivers of around £3.1 billion, saving the average car driver around £50.
6,300 venues in the West Midlands will also benefit from the decision to freeze alcohol duty until February 2025, extending the six-month freeze announced at Autumn Statement. This will result in 2p less duty on an average pint of beer, 1p less duty on an average pint of cider, 10p less duty on an average bottle of wine, and 33p less duty on an average bottle of spirits, than if the planned duty increase had gone ahead.
To help Shropshire’s businesses, Stuart also endorsed the decision to increase the VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 from April 2024. This will take thousands of businesses out of paying VAT, allowing them to focus on priorities like taking on new staff to help grow the economy. This will mean that the threshold will be the highest across the EU and the highest in the OECD, alongside Switzerland.
In addition, Stuart backed an extension of the Recovery Loan Scheme, which is being renamed as the Growth Guarantee Scheme and extended until the end of March 2026. The scheme offers a 70% government guarantee on loans to SMEs of up to £2 million. Additionally, Stuart welcomed a permanent extension to tax relief for theatres, orchestras, museums, and galleries. It will be permanently set at 40% for non-touring productions and 45% for touring productions and all orchestra productions. The Government is also providing an extra £5 million for the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund, so that they can remain at the heart of their communities.
To help the most vulnerable households, Stuart backed the decision to extend the Household Support Fund until September 2024 - providing an extra £500 million to continue targeted support with the cost of essentials for the most vulnerable families as inflation continues to fall. The Government is also making changes to Debt Relief Orders (DROs) by removing the £90 administration fee in June 2024, and extending Universal Credit Budgeting Advance repayment periods from 12 months to 24 months from December. Stuart also endorsed support for parents by raising the threshold for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge from £50,000 to £60,000, taking 170,000 families out of paying this tax. The Government is also halving the rate so that it is not paid in full until you earn over £80,000. This is estimated to support half a million families across the country, with an average gain of up to £1,260 to the cost of raising their children. It will move to a system based on household rather than individual incomes by April 2026.
Stuart Anderson MP said: “I am delighted to welcome the Chancellor’s Spring Budget, which delivers tax cuts for thousands of workers and businesses in rural areas like Shropshire. These measures will unlock rural prosperity with improved access to finance for small businesses, while public services like the NHS are improved through investment to boost productivity with the rollout of new technologies. The cut in National Insurance will mean people get to keep more of the money they earn, while thousands of families will benefit from improved access to Child Benefit. The freeze in fuel duty will help local commuters, the freeze in alcohol boost will support our bars, pubs and restaurants, and the permanent extension to tax relief will benefit our theatres, museums, and galleries as they welcome more people to our county.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt MP said: “Because the Conservatives are sticking to the plan, with the economy inflation is down from 11.1 per cent to 4.0 per cent, meaning we can cut taxes and put more money in people’s pockets to grow the economy. Our Budget cuts taxes to reward work, supports small businesses and helps more parents with the cost of childcare to grow the economy and fund public services.”
