- Rachel Reeves sets out a Budget that delivers on the change promised by the government to cut NHS waiting lists, cut debt and borrowing and cut the cost of living
- Chancellor doubles down on cutting cost of living and inflation for hard working families across the East Midlands with £150 off energy bills and freezes for rail fares, fuel duty and prescription fees
- Sets out the fair choices taken by this Labour Government that will cut our debt and government borrowing to help keep interest rates keep falling, benefiting families and businesses in the East Midlands
The Chancellor today unveiled a Budget that takes the fair choices to deliver on the country’s priorities of cutting the cost of living, reducing NHS waiting lists and driving down our borrowing and debt for families in the East Midlands.
Millions of hardworking families in the East Midlands struggling with household costs will benefit from Rachel Reeves’ inflation-busting decisions, with decisive action to take £150 off energy bills, freeze rail fares and a historic move to lift 117,000 children out of poverty in the region by scrapping the Tories’ two-child benefit cap.
Despite a decade of damage and historic underinvestment under the previous government which led to a £16 billion downgrade to productivity, the Chancellor was clear she was determined to defy the forecasts and break Britain out of its cycle of decline through stability, investment and reform.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said: “Today’s budget builds on the choices we have made in the last year. To cut hospital waiting lists. To cut the cost of living. And to cut our debt.
“These are my choices – the right choices for a fairer, stronger, more secure Britain.”
Upgrading the UK’s economic growth this year to 1.5% from 1% in the Spring, the government’s fiscal watchdog the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the choices taken in the Budget would reduce inflation by 0.4% next year and cut government borrowing faster than any other G7 country, meaning more money can be spent on vital public services in the East Midlands rather than debt interest.
Cutting the cost of living
The choices this Labour Government has made have led to wages growing more in the first year of this Government than at any point in the 2010s, but the Chancellor was clear too many families are still struggling with the cost of living. That is why the Budget includes a range of measures to cut bills and boost pay packets in the East Midlands:
- Front and centre of the plans is a move to take around £150 off household energy bills to lower inflation and ease pressure on family finances – 160,000 poorer households in the East Midlands will save up to £300 for the first time when combined with the recent expansion of the Warm Homes Discount
- In a range of further measures designed to ease the cost of living, commuters in the East Midlands will save hundreds of pounds on their season tickets after rail fares were frozen for the first time in 30 years – for example, a typical commuter travelling to work 3 days a week using flexi-season tickets will save £114 per year, travelling from Nottingham to Lincoln or £67 per year travelling from Nottingham to Derby
- An extension of the temporary 5p fuel duty cut for an extra five months, a further fuel duty freeze, and the new Fuel Finder scheme will save the average car driver £89 – supporting 3.2 million motorists across the East Midlands.
- Boosted pay-packets for 250,000 people in the region will give a £900 rise for full time workers on the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage in the East Midlands. A further 30,000 full-time workers on the 18-20 National Minimum Wage rate in the region will see a £1,500 rise
- The Help to Save scheme has been made permanent, providing extra support to low-earning savers – with 48,000 Help to Save accounts opened in the East Midlands already. The scheme allows savers to put up to £50 a month into a Help to Save account, for four years, and receive a 50% government bonus on the savings they put in
- Thanks to the government’s commitment to the Triple Lock for this parliament, 950,000 pensioners in the East Midlands will see their pension rise by up to £575 a year from April 2026
- The Government ended the unfairness faced by former mining communities across the East Midlands by pledging to release funds from the BCSSS pension scheme, benefiting more than 8,850 workers in the region
- Every eligible 18- to 21-year-old in the East Midlands who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months will be guaranteed a six-month paid work placement through a Jobs Guarantee scheme in the Youth Guarantee
Investment in local areas
- Around 59,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties on high streets across the East Midlands are set to benefit from permanently lower business rates
- This sits alongside reform of the licensing system for hospitality venues to rebalance the burdens of licensing and ensuring high streets can thrive
- Our high streets will also benefit from funding to support stronger enforcement action against illegal high street activity in premises like mini-marts, barbershops, vape shops, nail bars and car washes
- Alongside the decision to place Great British Railway’s headquarters in Derby, and investment in the next generation of nuclear technology with Rolls-Royce, Labour is building on this progress by backing the Team Derby initiative, working in partnership to maximise the ongoing government investment in the city
Greater power for local leaders
- The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) and Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) will both have access to a new £902 million Local Growth Fund, which will allow them to invest in local priorities like infrastructure, business development and skills
- Mayors will be empowered to introduce a visitor levy on overnight accommodation in their region, to drive economic growth including in the visitor economy – it will be for local leaders to decide whether to introduce this and how the revenue raised will be used to drive growth in their area and the government is consulting on the detailed design of the powers, including whether to extend to other local leaders
- This government is committed to the success of Derby and the wider city region, including through backing the Team Derby initiative
