- Kate Griffiths MP has welcomed the Government’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review, saying it will help working families in Burton and Uttoxeter meet the cost of living, support business recovery, deliver world-class public services, and drive economic growth.
- People and businesses in Burton and Uttoxeter will also benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate, an increase in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour, a freeze in fuel duty, as well as cuts to business rates, new tax reliefs, and record spending on infrastructure and R&D.
- Burton and Uttoxeter’s brewing industry and pubs will benefit from the biggest overhaul of the Alcohol Duty system in over 140 years, with the biggest cut to Beer Duty in 50 years. A lower Draught Beer Duty will be a long-term investment in British Pubs worth £100 million a year.
Kate Griffiths MP has welcomed the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review, which prepares the UK for a stronger post-covid economy as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic.
The Budget prioritises helping working families and vulnerable households with the cost of living, including through a significant tax cut for low-income families, by reducing the Universal Credit taper rate from 63 per cent to 55 per cent, a 6.6 per cent increase in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour—giving a £1,000 pay rise to 2 million of the lowest paid—lifting pay restraints for public sector workers and a freeze in fuel duty for the twelfth consecutive year.
Businesses will also benefit from new measures, including a 50 per cent cut in business rates next year for 90 per cent of retail, hospitality and leisure—alongside a freeze of all rates—the creation of new business rates relief to encourage green technologies and improvements to properties, and a doubling of creative industries tax reliefs for the UK’s world-leading theatres, orchestras, museums and galleries.
Burton, the brewing capital of the UK, is set to benefit from the biggest overhaul to the Alcohol Duty system in over 140 years, with the biggest cut to Beer Duty in 50 years.
It is anticipated that pubs in Burton and Uttoxeter will particularly welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of a new Draught Relief, which will mean a 5 per cent lower rate of Duty to draught beer, poured from the tap.
This is a policy that Burton’s MP, Kate Griffiths, has been campaigning for following the pandemic, and will help pubs recover. It will also mean greater parity between pubs and supermarkets when it comes to buying beer.
Other measures to drive economic growth include record investment in our roads, railways and broadband; supporting innovation through a record £20 billion spending on R&D; and a huge uplift in skills training through T-levels, Institutes of Technology, and apprenticeships.
As part of the three-year Spending Review delivered alongside the Budget, total Government departmental spending will increase by £150 billion by 2024—a 3.8 per cent annual real terms increase—the largest real terms increase this century, and record levels of capital investment not seen in 50 years.
This funding increase will help to deliver on the Government’s key manifesto promises, including building 40 new hospitals, recruiting 20,000 police officers, and raising per-pupil spending in schools to record levels.
Underpinning these measures, the Budget strengthens the country’s public finances, and will get debt falling again, following the £400 billion package of support put in place during the pandemic. The new fiscal rules set out today by the Chancellor will require the Government to borrow only to invest and get debt falling by 2024, in line with the Government’s 2019 manifesto commitment.
Commenting, Kate Griffiths MP, said:
“Despite the unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic, the Government is getting on with the job and delivering on the priorities of the British people.
“This Budget will make a real difference to people in Burton and Uttoxeter—helping working families with the cost of living, improving transport connections, regenerating communities and improving health outcomes.
“As Member of Parliament for the brewing capital of the UK, it is particularly welcome that the Chancellor announced the biggest overhaul to the Alcohol Duty system in over 140 years, with the biggest cut to Beer Duty in 50 years.
“I am absolutely delighted that a new Draught Relief will be introduced, which will mean a 5 per cent lower rate of Duty to draught beer, poured from the tap. This will benefit community pubs especially, which do 75 per cent of their trade on draught—and we have an above average number of these fantastic hostelries in Burton and Uttoxeter.
“I was elected on a promise to level up and improve opportunity for people in the West Midlands—and today’s Budget shows how this Government is delivering on that promise as we build back better.”
Commenting, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said:
“One year ago, this country was in the grip of the biggest recession in 300 years. Thanks to our Plan For Jobs, we are today recovering faster than our major competitors, more people are in work, and growth is up. But uncertainty in the global economy means that recovery is now under threat.
“That is why this Budget and Spending Review delivers a stronger economy for people in Burton and Uttoxeter—strengthening our public finances, helping working families meet the cost of living, supporting businesses, delivering stronger public services, and driving economic growth.
“This is a Budget which will level up the West Midlands. It is a Budget which provides the foundations for a stronger economy.”
