Last Wednesday, Westminster once again became a hotbed of anticipation and speculation as the Chancellor stepped out of No.11 Downing Street, holding the famous red box aloft for the nation’s media ahead of his Spring Budget. This is a tradition going back decades, but this time, there were two Lincolnshire MPs standing with him! As Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor, I was honoured to be part of it, along with Horncastle and Louth’s MP, the Financial Secretary, Victoria Atkins.
The Budget set out a plan to grow our economy by supporting families with greater access to childcare, backing businesses by incentivising investment, and driving innovation to make Britain a science and technology superpower.
As I have written here many times, it is only through growing our economy that we can further improve our public services. Better health services, greater transport connectivity, and more full time police officers on our streets can only be delivered by sustained, responsible economic growth.
This Budget was also especially important for our area, and while there were many measures, I wanted to highlight a few.
With over 5,500 miles of road in Lincolnshire, maintaining our transport network is vital for local connectivity, joining up our rural villages with our towns. I was therefore glad to see over £6.8 million in new funding to fix potholes in our county.
While our transport network connects Lincolnshire’s beautiful towns and villages, the cornerstone of these places has always been the local pub. From the very oldest of pubs to the newest of bars, these are establishments where all are welcome. I look forward to seeing our local pubs busy with people celebrating the coronation of His Majesty The King in just 6 weeks’ time. Our royal toasts will be enhanced by a new ‘Pubs Guarantee’, which will keep draught beer duty lower than that applied in supermarkets.
Great businesses and facilities not only provide jobs for local people, but they enhance our area, and make it an even better place to live. Our local swimming pools and leisure centres are also places where people can come together, and improve the health and wellbeing of our community.
However, we know that public pools have been struggling with energy rising costs, so the Government has committed to supporting these facilities through a new £60 million Swimming Pool Support Fund, providing investment to drive energy efficiency measures and keep our pools afloat. As always, I will do all I can to push for as much as this investment as possible coming into our local services.
Finally, we are fortunate that almost one in thirteen people in our area have previously served in uniform, we have one of the largest populations of veterans in the country. That’s why it was important for me that we saw an additional £30 million announced going to support our veterans.
All in all this was a Budget to fill our potholes, our pint glasses, and our swimming pools, and it is one that I welcome.
