I know that my residents will be gearing themselves up for a well-deserved Christmas break this year. As we head towards December, we prepare for the Christmas period spent with loved ones and our community; a time of festivity, happiness and reflection.
Firstly, I wanted to touch on the Autumn Statement which many will have followed closely. This has been a tough Autumn Statement given the global economic challenges facing us as we have emerged from the pandemic and Putin’s horrific illegal war in Ukraine. However, despite these challenges, as I said in the House of Commons this is an Autumn Statement that has protected the most vulnerable through the uprating of benefits; continued the welcome reforms needed, such as on business rates to support our high streets; shored up financial stability and sustainability; renewed the focus on growth, including through business capital investment; honoured the triple lock for pensioners; and protected those public services that matter most, such as our NHS and schools.
Whilst sitting in the House of Commons Chamber, I listened closely to every word spoken by the Chancellor, and I was very pleased to hear his acknowledgment and respect for the older generations who have helped build the country we live in today. Here in Stoke-on-Trent, we are a proud city with a fantastic heritage, and we do not forget those, both before and now, who have helped build our community. For this reason, I was pleased to hear that the government is supporting our pensioners and honouring the triple lock for pensions. I know that elderly residents in Stoke-on-Trent will have been nervous in hearing rumours this would be scrapped. My hope is this brings relief and confidence to a generation of residents that we must continue to support.
I believe it is vital to also ensure our younger generations are given the opportunities and support they deserve to thrive. For us to do this, we must not only keep up efforts to Level Up opportunities in Stoke-on-Trent, but support industries and households during these challenging times. Increasing the national living wage by the largest amount ever is particularly welcome and will see the lowest paid earning an extra £1,600. We are a city proud of our abilities in manufacturing, especially our world-renowned ceramics. The Potteries are one of the world’s leading industrial clusters and I cannot think of a better place to locate on of the Government Investment Zones to help accelerate the growth of skilled well-paid jobs locally. I will be continuing to push for us to secure one of these Zones for our city.
The permanent Investment Allowance of £1 million is very welcome in Stoke-on-Trent giving tax reliefs to help our local manufacturing businesses to continue to invest in new more efficient equipment for their factories. Given the massive impact Putin’s illegal war has had on global energy prices, it is vital we support those local businesses and livelihoods which have been most effected. This year, I have been working tirelessly to push for further support towards energy intensive industries locally such as ceramics. After applying a huge amount of pressure on the government, I was delighted by the action to provide equivalent support to local businesses this winter. This support will no doubt be a huge help and I will be pushing for this support to be extended beyond April for our local high energy use industries, which thousands of people in our city depend on for employment.
With increased global energy costs impacting us all, it is right we do all we can to support households with their energy bills throughout the winter and into the future. The Energy Price Guarantee will now be extended capping household energy bills meaning over the winter the average annual household energy bill will be capped at £2,500 and from April 2023 – April 2024 the cap for the average household will be £3,000. In addition, a further £12 billion of targeted support has been announced to help the most vulnerable households over the next year. This is on top of the significant support already in place to support households and you can find out more about the help available on my website: https://www.jackbrereton.co.uk/energycosts
At a time of hardship, residents have rightfully expressed to me their desire to see government support starting here at home. For this reason, I have welcomed the announcement that Foreign Aid spending has been frozen at a reduced rate. This allows us to spend more money on our NHS and schools. The NHS and social care system will see a boost of £6.6 billion to support and improve services. Our schools are also going to see £4.4 billion in funding meaning our children have access to best possible teaching.
Looking forwards to the festive season, our family and especially our son are very excited for Christmas and this year will be special. This is going to be our baby daughter’s first Christmas! The local events have already started in earnest, and Stoke-on-Trent is without doubt starting to get into the festive spirit. I recently attended the Christmas switch on events in Longton and Fenton, and I know Meir is coming this week. All these events are fantastic, bringing our communities together. Huge thanks go to everyone who has helped organise Christmas activities and events across our city this year.
I hope to see you all out and about doing your Christmas shopping supporting our local high streets this weekend for small business Saturday, which is on 3rd December, and if you see me feel free to say hi! If I don’t get chance to say so beforehand, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Originally published in the Stoke Sentinel 29/11/2022
