As the old saying goes, all politics is local. In amongst the excitement around budget week here in Westminster, it's important to remember that the measures that we announced last Wednesday will have a direct impact on people's lives here in Hitchin & Harpenden.
For a start, we're cutting National Insurance by 2%, bringing it down from 10% to 8%. Combined with the 2% cut announced in the Autumn, that means that an average earner will be almost £900 better off in the next fiscal year; for a family with two working parents, that's £1,800. This is real money, which will have a real impact on people's lives, making it easier for them to save and invest in the future.
Speaking of working families, we've also reformed Child Benefit eligibility, raising the threshold from £50,000 to £60,000, and tapering provision up to £80,000. Our long-term ambition is to move to a system whereby eligibility is assessed by household, rather than by individual income, making the system fairer for families of all shapes and sizes. These reforms will directly improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of families, including many families in Hitchin & Harpenden, by making it easier to cover their childcare costs.
It's not just direct support for working families either. Our investments in public sector efficiency - including our commitment to spend £3.4 billion on NHS digitalisation - will make the state more effective, allowing doctors to take on more appointments, speeding up judicial processes, and ensuring better integration of records between different public service providers. Though that might sound dry and technical, it will have a huge impact on how easy it is for people to access the services that their tax bill funds. Greater integration and technological improvement means less paperwork for our public sector workers, and better value for money for taxpayers.
This is a Budget that we can proud of, and which helps to deliver on the priorities of people in Hitchin & Harpenden. I will continue to work alongside the Chancellor and the excellent Treasury team to deliver for you, over the course of the next Parliament. The picture that we painted of a faster growing, more dynamic British economy, supporting better public service provision, is one that we can all support.
