Labour’s first budget since 2010 and the first presented by a female chancellor of the Exchequer has been positively received in Somerset. Turning around the years of Tory mismanagement and putting the focus back on communities and working people the budget targets investment, rebuilding Public Services, the NHS, Education, Housing and wealth redistribution. Rachel Reeves said “Today’s Budget will cut NHS waiting lists and enable us to invest in Britain’s future by rebuilding our hospitals, schools and broken roads: Over £25.6 billion of new funding which will deliver an extra two million NHS operations, scans and appointments a year, so waiting times are reduced for you and your family. £1.4 billion to rebuild 500 schools to deliver classrooms that children can learn and thrive in. £500 million to fix local roads and fill in an additional one million potholes a year. Around Somerset we asked Labour leaders what they made of their Government’s commitment to the manifesto which they had won the recent election on.
Bridgwater Labour’s Economy spokesman Cllr Mick Lerry (Labour,Victoria) says “This Labour budget shows that the people were right to elect a Labour Government. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves outlined a needed front-loaded budget for growth, while remaining fiscally responsible. Labour did not break pre-election promises, regarding increases in taxes. The Labour government inherited a huge debt from the previous Tory government, adding up to over 22 billion and at the same time stating that the UK had the highest growth rate in the G7, when it was the lowest. Today’s budget has an industrial strategy, to invest in the economy, workers, businesses, schools, housing and the Health Service. Capital growth that will help plan for further investment, both private and public, that will give real opportunity for people and businesses. Harnessed to this growth will be investment in health care, education and training and housing. The investment will give a new direction for renewable energy, electric cars, warmer homes and UK energy. This will drive the need for education and training for the workers and entrepreneurs of the future. We now know that the Tory Government, if still in power, would have moved to austerity and reduced investment in the economy. It was a government that did not believe in an industrial strategy for the future, it preferred to leave everything to market forces, like the failed Truss budget. It chose to have an early election to avoid the embarrassment of the 22 billion black hole, HS2 and a refusal to pay workers a pay rise. Locally people in Bridgwater will have greater hope for the future, knowing that there be no more failures in school buildings, such as Haygrove school. Education will receive more funding and capital projects like the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier and the new Gigafactory will receive the investment needed for the local economy. Waiting lists will start to go down with the reforms in health service and Councils will be able to build more houses”.
Essential for Somerset
County Labour group leader Cllr Leigh Redman (Labour, Bridgwater North Central) said “I listened to today’s budget with great interest, as a local councillor in an authority that is effectively broke because of the way previous administrations cut back on services and the national government cut grant funding, I was keen to see what help the chancellor might give to local councils like us. Ms Reeves promised a “real terms funding increase for local government” amounting to £1.3bn additional grant funding, with £300mn for social care. However, it is not clear how much of this fund will be ring fenced for children’s social care, then pointed it to announcements she had included, I was left none the wiser. She pledged a funding uplift of £1bn for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services, something that is important and, in my opinion, essential for Somerset. Alongside greater investment in SEND services, the chancellor announced a package of £2.1bn for school maintenance, including investing £1.4bn to rebuild “crumbling” schools, that could mean only £700mn to make good, the thousands of under maintained schools across the country. During Prime Minister’s Questions, prior to the Budget, Keir Starmer promised to “work hand-in-hand with councils, including multi-year funding commitments” to stabilise local government finances which has been long called-for, although it was not clear which areas of councils work this will apply to.I welcome the chancellors announcement to raise the minimum wage by 6.7 per cent, this clearly shows that we are firmly on the side of working people.So as always the devil will be in the detail, there is clarity needed over the next few days around how all of this will look here in Somerset.Considering the huge deficit left by the last government I was generally, as pleased as I could be, and look forward to some further detail.”
Education in Focus
For Schools and Education VAT will be introduced on private school fees and business rates relief removed and in return some 500 state schools will be rebuilt. There will also be 300m for school maintenance, £30m for free school breakfast clubs plus an investment of £300m for further education and £1bn for Special Educational Needs.
Bridgwater Town Council’s Community spokesperson Cllr Liz Marsh (Labour, Victoria) an Academic Coach at Bridgwater and Taunton College, said “I am so pleased to see Further Education also being included and acknowledged and furthermore SEN in particular. This will make a massive difference to the students that I coach.”
Overdue Investment in NHS
Chair of Bridgwater Constituency Labour party Cllr Tim Mander said “Very pleased to hear of the long overdue investment in the NHS. The day-to-day NHS budget will increase by £22.6bn. There will also be a further £3.1bn investment in its capital budget for facilities and equipment. The NHS has been allowed to rot by the Tories and together with the settlement of the Junior Doctors pay dispute there is at long last hope that service will improve to all those dependent on the services the NHS provides”
A Start to the Change Needed
Leader of Bridgwater Town Council Cllr Brian Smedley (Labour, Westover) said “The important thing in this budget is the Tories messed up this country, ran down public services, made cut after cut, wrought havoc with their austerity and almost sank many local authorities, but now we can start to change that. This is a big tax budget, but then there’s a big hole to plug, however, it correctly focuses on the wealthy paying their fair share, no going back to austerity and building back up the things that people need most -Health, Education and Housing. “