Sir John Hayes hails Jeremy Hunt's Budget and believes it will be good for South Holland and the Deepings

In his latest column, MP Sir John Hayes explains why he thinks the budget will be good for this area.

In 1852, the great reforming Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli from the Treasury delivered a Budget speech lasting around five hours. Thankfully, today’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, was more succinct in delivering his recent fiscal update.

Despite difficult global circumstances –a fresh banking crisis abroad, and the higher cost of living caused, in part, by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine– the Chancellor was able to confound the doom-mongers and doubters.

The latest forecasts suggest the UK economy is stronger than predicted, and concludes that we will avoid the recession previously feared.

The budget saw a £25billion three-year tax cut for business investment, a new Universal Support programme for disabled people and the long-term sick, as well as an extension of the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for three more months. All of which will help my constituents here in South Holland and the Deepings. There were other measures in the budget of particular interest to us here in Lincolnshire, a number of which I highlighted when meeting the Chancellor earlier this month.

At the core of my campaign for Fair Funding for Lincolnshire is more resources for roads. Car and van drivers in our area have just cause to complain about poorly maintained road surfaces, while hauliers who transport the foodstuff we produce across the nation rely on good roads. So, it’s very welcome news that there will be an additional £22.9 million allocated for road repairs across the region, enough to fix 460,000 potholes. It’s part of a nationwide £200 million increase in Government spending to improve roads.

My constituents, who are constantly forced to negotiate crumbling highways, wanted exactly this kind of commitment. For rural areas like ours where cars are essential to get to work, shops and elsewhere, the freeze on fuel duty, saving the average driver around £200 a year, is hugely important. The Chancellor also froze the rate of Vehicle Excise Duty for HGVs, supporting our haulage sector.

Following my representations, there was also a new fund of £63 million made available specifically for publicly-owned leisure centres with swimming pools. Given the deeply disappointing closure of Deepings Leisure Centre, this fund could provide a lifeline. Already working with local campaigners, I contacted Sport England immediately about the fund, and will cooperate with constituents and councillors to do my best to make sure that our area benefits from these extra funds.

Local working families have already told me that they welcome the biggest shake up in childcare provision for years, with a planned 30 hours of childcare a week offered to all working parents of children aged nine months until they start school. In future, this will help an estimated 1,300 families in our area. The Government is also increasing the hourly rate paid to nurseries, allowing childminders to care for more than three children under five if some children are siblings, and paying Universal Credit claimants their entitlement upfront.

Having supported the ‘Long Live the Local’ campaign I was pleased too with the new ‘Brexit Pub Guarantee’, meaning that draught beer will be 11p cheaper than in supermarkets.

In our area, the economic fundamentals remain strong. The number of people out of work is lower than the national average, and there are almost 1,000 more businesses than there were ten years ago.

Nevertheless, we face a range of challenges many of which are linked to rurality, and we are certainly not out of the woods just yet. With higher prices and rising bills, there is a real economic risk from an overseas banking crisis.

Nonetheless, the Government’s focus on families, communities, and less advantaged Britons is just and welcome.

As is the recognition that roads and road users matter.

In the words of Disraeli: “Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People.”