George Eustice today welcomed the Chancellor’s first budget of this new Parliament, which promises good news for Cornwall.
During his speech, George Osborne announced the introduction of a National Living Wage which is expected to pay £9 an hour by 2020. In addition, the Personal Allowance has been extended to £11,000 in 2016, while Income tax at 40p is set to rise from £42,385 to £43,000 next year.
Further measures that have been announced include reforming welfare to making the system fairer and more affordable. Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) for 18-21 year olds will be replaced with a new Youth Obligation, meaning that young people will be obliged to earn or learn. Their automatic entitlement of housing benefit will also be abolished. The support provided to families through tax credits or Universal Credit will be limited to two children – so all families thinking about having another child will now face the same choices.
George said of the budget: “I think some of the measures announced will have a really positive impact here in Cornwall where we have a higher number of people on lower incomes and the new National Living Wage will be big boost in Cornwall where, all too often, large supermarkets have paid less than they should relying on the country to subsidise them through the tax credits system. There also encouraging signals from George Osborne about a new devolution deal which will see new powers devolved to Cornwall”.