Budget Resolutions

James Davies Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Vicky Foxcroft) in this Budget debate on growing the economy. My constituents, like many across the UK, continue to face significant financial pressures, but there is a real sense we are turning a corner as inflation and energy bills fall, wages rise and mortgage rates begin to come down.

Cost of living pressures will be further eased now that the Chancellor is in a position to again cut national insurance contributions for 27 million working people. Combined with the cut at the autumn statement, the average worker will be £900 better off and have the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975. The raising of the threshold for the high-income child benefit charge will also mean that many hard-working parents can keep more of the money they earn. Meanwhile, pensioners will see an 8.5% increase to the state pension, which relative to earnings is already at the highest it has been for 34 years. Alongside that, the significant increase to the national living wage, to working-age benefits and to the local housing allowance will all be important in the Vale of Clwyd.

So far, so good, but that is until, I am afraid, we take account of the decisions of Labour and Plaid politicians on devolved matters in Wales. As we know well, for every £1 spent by the UK Government in England, the Welsh Government receive £1.20 in Barnett consequentials. The Budget results in an additional £170 million for the Welsh Government, in addition to an existing record settlement from the Treasury. Even so, Denbighshire County Council has found it necessary to hike council tax by 9.34% while cutting frontline services, including libraries and education.

For too long, north Wales has borne the brunt of poor prioritisation by the Welsh Government, whether that is £200 million on the floundering Cardiff airport, £33 million and rising on the unwanted 20 mph speed limit or £120 million on increasing the number of politicians in Cardiff Bay. All this waste has real consequences for those dependent on high-quality and value-for-money public services.

Increasingly, we see disparities that disadvantage my constituents. For example, the Government are rightly extending the retail, hospitality and leisure relief in England in this Budget, while the Welsh Government are increasing the burden on small businesses by reducing their level of relief from 75% to just 40%. Disappointingly, that means that the rates bill for an independent pub with a rateable value of £31,600 will be £3,942 in England, but £10,655 in Wales. The freeze on alcohol duty will be welcomed in the hospitality sector, and the freeze on fuel duty for the 14th consecutive year will also be welcomed in my semi-rural constituency, as will the increase in the VAT registration threshold for small businesses.

Spending on the NHS is over a third higher in real terms than in 2010, and the UK is now ranked sixth out of the 38 OECD countries on health spending as a percentage of GDP. However, outcomes need to improve, so I very much welcome the near £6 billion announced in the Budget to address productivity and service pressures in England. It is, however, a matter of deep regret that the failing devolved NHS services in north Wales are unlikely to see the corresponding improvements that they desperately need.

It is time to be a little more positive, and one of the things I have found most satisfying over the past four years has been the increased attention that north Wales has received from the UK Government since the election of a strong team of Conservative MPs. Denbighshire is receiving tens of millions of pounds of levelling-up funding for various projects across the county, including in Rhyl, Prestatyn, Denbigh, Ruthin and Llangollen. Wrexham, Glan Conwy and the Conwy valley, Gwynedd’s slate landscapes and Holyhead are also receiving support. That support has been supplemented by the community renewal fund and the community ownership fund, which in Denbighshire have given support to the Salusbury Arms in Tremeirchion, the Llandyrnog shop, the Sun Inn in Eryrys and the Llangollen museum.

We also have the benefit of the shared prosperity fund, which amounts to £26 million in Denbighshire alone; a £160 million investment zone in north-east Wales; a £26 million freeport on Anglesey; the north Wales growth deal; funding for grassroots sport; and the commitment of at least £1 billion to electrify the north Wales mainline. That theme of support for north Wales, which far exceeds what was ever received via the former European Union structural funds, continued in this Budget. The Government’s long-term plan for towns was expanded at the Budget to include Rhyl. That provides the town with £20 million of additional endowment-style funding to invest over 10 years, empowering it to develop a plan for the long term, not just for the end of the financial year.

It was timely news that Theatr Clwyd will receive £1.6 million, which will allow it to complete its regeneration work fully. The theatre, based in Mold, benefits many of my constituents. It is a cultural hub for the region, and I was pleased not only to host its reception at Parliament a few weeks ago, but to welcome the arts Minister, Lord Parkinson for a tour of the construction site last week. The announcement for Theatr Clwyd was joined by the welcome news that Venue Cymru in Llandudno will receive £10 million in funding. We also heard at the Budget about a £5 million agrifood launchpad, which will provide research and development funding to support businesses in mid and north Wales to deliver economic growth through innovative projects and to take advantage of new opportunities emerging in agritech.

Finally, I was delighted that the Government have reached agreement on a multimillion deal with Hitachi to purchase the Wylfa site on Anglesey, bringing the prospect of major investment in a nuclear energy project on the site a step closer. I conclude with thanks to the Chancellor and thanks that the Government recognise the values and priorities of us in north Wales—long may that continue.