Budget 2015

The Chancellor George Osborne delivered his last Budget before the General Election to the House of Commons on Wednesday 18thMarch 2015. The key announcements that could impact on local government include:

  1. Planning, Transport and Infrastructure

1.1The government has published a consultation on changes to make the compulsory purchase system 'clearer, faster and fairer', including measures to allow the secretary of state to delegate the granting of a CPO to a planning inspector.

1.2Announcements for the Midlands: The Chancellor announced funding for a High Speed Rail Investment Summit in Birmingham, to attract overseas investment into regeneration projects in the wider region.

1.3The government is announcing that ultrafast broadband of at least 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) should be available to nearly all UK premises. Further action will also be taken to support the delivery of broadband in rural areas, including looking to raise the Universal Service Obligation – the legal entitlement to a basic service – from dial-up speeds to 5 Mbps broadband.

1.4The government intend to bring forward more than £13 million of the six-year flood defence programme announced in December to better protect more than 1,700 homes from flooding sooner than planned in the East Midlands. Four brand new schemes have also been given the green light as part of the long-term investment programme and work will start on another 21 flood defence projects earlier than previously announced.

  1. Housing

2.1To help first timebuyers to get on the housing ladder, Budget 2015 announced the Help to Buy: ISA. For every £200 a first time buyer saves, the government will provide a £50 bonus up to a maximum bonus of £3,000 on £12,000 of savings.

2.2The government is designating the first 20 Housing Zones outside London- land where the government provides funding to unlockinfrastructure, site acquisition and leaseholder buyout schemes - and ‘continuing to work with the other eight shortlisted areas - at least doubling the ambition to create 10 housing zones outside London’. In the Midlands the Housing Zones are: Bassetlaw, Gedling, Derby, West Lindsey and Stoke;andby working with Dudley and SandwellMetropolitan Borough Councils the aim is to deliver a final total of more than 9,000 homes.

2.3The North Northamptonshire authorities of Kettering, Corby and Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire will receive capacity funding to help deliver 16,700 homes.

  1. Health

3.1The Government will be providing over £1 billion over the next 5 years to start new access standards which will see over 110,000 more children cared for over the next Parliament. Alongside this, the government will be providing £118 million by 2018-19 to complete the roll-out of the Children and Young People’s Increasing Access to the Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) programme.

  1. Devolution

4.1The Chancellor confirmed an agreement on a ‘new City Deal’ with the West Yorkshire combined authority, as well as ‘more power’ to Wales, with work underway on a City Deal for Cardiff. Nothing further announced on devolution for East Midlands.

  1. Business and the economy

5.1The government will implement a package of measures to improve the accessibility of R&D tax credits for smaller businesses, including producing new guidance aimed at smaller firms and setting out a roadmap for further improvements over the next 2 years.

5.2A review of business rates to ensure they are fit for purpose was announced on 16 March 2015.

The government will consult on whether to introduce a business rates relief for local newspapers in England.The Government isalso to encourage Local Authorities to use their business rates discretionary relief powers to support the sharing economy, including shared workspaces.

5.3The Chancellor also announced an initial £60 million of investment in a proposal by six universities across the Midlands for a new Energy Research Accelerator, to develop the energy technologies of the future.

5.4The Chancellor confirmed that the government has accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations for increases to the adult, 18-19 and 16-17 National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates. The adult NMW rate will increase by 3.1% to £6.70 from October 2015. The apprentice rate will increase by 57p an hour to £3.30.

  1. Education

6.1The government is to introduce a package of measures to broaden and strengthen support for postgraduate researchers (including both masters and PhDs), including options to strengthen partnerships and co-funding between government, industry and charities.

  1. Other

7.1The government will provide further support to farmers by increasing the period over which they can average their profits for income tax from 2 to 5 years from April 2016.

7.2The government will provide £7.4 million funding to support libraries in England to provide internet access andWiFi.

8.Link

8.1The full text of the Budget is available here.