Budget 2009 – Real Help Now
The Budget today offers real help to people now. On Tyneside we remember all too well the devastating job-losses caused by the do-nothing approach to the recession of the 1980s. The Government is determined to do all it can to avoid a return to those days. That means offering people assistance if they are facing difficulties, investing to create more jobs in industries that will grow in the future, and making sure that people have the skills to take up these new opportunities when they arise.
In total £1.7bn was set aside to help people stay in work, including further investment in JobCentres and the New Deal. On top of this there were extensions to the Child Tax Credit and the Winter Fuel Payment, and measures for people who are struggling with their mortgages. In part this will be paid for through a new top rate of tax of 50% for those earning more than £150,000 a year. It’s fair that those who have benefited most in recent years now contribute to helping us through tough times.
There are a range of measures to boost businesses across the UK, and in particular the emphasis on green technologies such as wind farms and clean coal will be good for the North East. The Government knows that we can only get the job market moving again by encouraging a return to growth in the private sector. That is especially true in our region.
The Budget saw a renewed focus on skills, with a guarantee of training for young people who get into long term unemployment. This builds on the investment in education we’ve seen over the past ten years. In my constituency of Newcastle East and Wallsend, 78% more young people are going into higher education than a decade ago. We can be proud of this achievement – that improvement is in the top 10% in the country – but it’s part of a wider picture as well. Across the country higher education entry rates are up almost 25%.
We have to help people through these difficult times, but we also must make sure that when the recovery starts people are able to take advantage of the growing job market. The investments of the past decade in education and skills, together with the long term decisions in last week’s Budget, will ensure that that is the case.