Watch as Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins says Spring Budget fails to rise to challenges

Derbyshire’s councils including Derbyshire County, Chesterfield Borough, NE Derbyshire District, Bolsover District, and High Peak Borough have all been struggling with the economic climate, high inflation and interest rates, the cost of living crisis and the impact of Covid-19 with rising costs and demands.

However, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s biggest budget headline grabbers were a cut in people’s National Insurance contributions by 2p for employees and the self-employed and an increase in child benefit income thresholds to support workers.

The budget also extended the Household Support Fund which helps people with food and energy costs, extended The Covid Government loan scheme, and it is to allow longer loan repayment periods for those on benefits taking emergency budget loans and there will be funding for people struggling with the cost of living crisis.

But Chesterfield Labour MP Toby Perkins told the House of Commons, on March 11, during the budget debate: “And so the Government limp on endlessly, joylessly, hopelessly and without any sense that they have a clue how to tackle the kinds of issues facing our country that I see at my constituency surgeries every week of the year.

“This is a budget that self-evidently fails to rise to the challenge that 14 years of Tory Government have left our nation facing.

“Crumbling public services, growing social problems and a bleak fiscal forecast are the damning but unsurprising legacy of 14 wasted years. This is a Government who have failed by every measure.”

The Office for Budget Responsibility has, however, predicted the UK economy will grow by 0.8per cent this year and 1.9per cent next year and the Government expects the UK inflation rate to fall below a two per cent target by June and as low as to 1.5per cent by next year, which councils would welcome.

But public debt, not including Bank of England debt, is forecast to be 91.7per cent of Growth Domestic Product this year and it is expected to rise to 92.8per cent next year.

Mr Perkins added: “It is not just the national debt that is rising. People are worse off. Real Growth Domestic Product per capita will be lower at the end of this year than it was at the start of this Parliament.

“Real pay has gone up just £17 a week over 13 years of Conservative government. Under the 13 years of Labour government, real wages rose by £183 a week.

“Office for Budget Responsibility figures show that, within this budget, for every 10p extra that working people pay in tax under the Tories’ plan, they will get only 5p back as a result of the combined national insurance cut.

“The idea that this budget is on the side of working people is simply untrue. Under this Tory Government, work does not pay.”

Cash-strapped Derbyshire County Council and Chesterfield Borough Council particularly – like many councils nationwide – have been forced to make unwelcome saving proposals and cost-cutting changes to services with increased fees and restrictions to meet multi-million pound budget deficits.

Councils have also complained about a lack of Government funding and struggling with continued one-year Government funding settlements which make it harder to manage a longer medium-term plan beyond 2025.

The Conservative county council set a balanced budget for 2024-25 having faced a forecast deficit of over £39m and the Labour borough council set a balanced budget for 2024-25 having faced an estimated £4m shortfall.

But struggling Derbyshire councils are still expecting to experience a continued squeeze on public funding after the Government’s Spring Budget announcement offered little hope or few rescue packages.

A Local Government Association spokesperson stated councils are starting this financial year in a precarious position, and having to scale back or close a wide range of local services, so the continued squeeze in public spending in the years ahead is a frightening prospect for communities.

A spokesperson for Labour controlled NE Derbyshire District Council said: “The Spring Budget had little impact on North East Derbyshire Council although we were pleased to note the increase from 40per to 50per cent for use of right to buy receipts which will aid our ambition to increase the amount of affordable housing in the district. We also note the continuation of the Household Support Fund as positive.

“The council has been operating in a challenging financial climate for several years and has an excellent track record of both identifying and delivering service efficiencies as required and continue to meet the pressures we face alongside a strong commitment to financial resilience and good financial governance to provide high-quality services to our residents and businesses.”

County Councils Network Vice Chairperson, Cllr Barry Lewis, who is also the Derbyshire County Council Leader, has expressed disappointment at the Spring Budget.

Cllr Lewis said that in the lead up to a General Election, it is imperative that all political parties set out how they will provide a long-term, sustainable funding settlement for councils and reform council finances, including providing more freedoms and flexibilities to raise local revenues.

He added that this must be coupled with a more comprehensive reform programme in children’s social care, school transport and special educational needs services to help councils more effectively manage demand and drive down costs.

Mr Perkins said: “I see the disastrous decisions that my own Conservative council in Derbyshire is making.

“I have no time for the leadership of the Conservative council. I see the huge impact on parents whose children are waiting for a special needs assessment or are unable to get support with special needs teaching assistants in schools.

“I see the state of our roads, which are simply unfit to be driven on. I see people who are waiting for a social care assessment. I met a gentleman just today who was at the end of his tether trying to get support for his wife, who is in a terrible state.

“But for all the failures of Tory Derbyshire County Council, we have to come back and look at this Government’s funding of local government, because councils right up and down the country are experiencing the same, whether they are Labour, Conservative or Liberal. They are all saying that council funding is out of control.”

The Government claims its day-day spending is expected to grow by one per cent in real terms over the next five years and NHS budget is to go up £2,5bn next year and also get £3.4bn up to 2030.

Mr Perkins said: “We also see the impact on NHS waiting times, with the longest waiting times in our history. We see food bank usage becoming commonplace and we see rising child poverty.

“Every time I go to a school, I hear that the school has children turning up unable to learn because of hunger.”

He added: “It is clear that this Government have neither the ambition nor the courage to tackle the issues facing our country. Our economy needs growth, but our country also needs a shot in the arm from a Government with a commitment to tackling poverty and the causes of failure that have gone unchecked under this Government.”

Chesterfield Borough, Bolsover District, and High Peak Borough Councils and NE Derbyshire MP Lee Rowley have all been asked for statements but as of yet have still not replied.