Budget Resolutions

Sally-Ann Hart Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

I welcome the Budget’s investment in people, families, education and skills, and jobs, which are all vital for combating poverty and levelling up. For too long, many of the worst-off people and places across the UK have been left behind by uneven economic growth and fewer opportunities. Levelling up means that everyone gets an equal opportunity to unleash their potential to make a difference. That will help to combat poverty. Poverty does not make the most of a person’s potential and deprives our society and economy of the skills and talents of those who have meaningful contributions to make.

Levelling up is important to my beautiful constituency of Hastings of Rye: a coastal community with so much potential to be unleashed, if given the opportunity. We have fantastic contributions to make as individuals and businesses, with huge potential for growth in, for example, culture, tourism and manufacturing. I am delighted that Hastings was successful in its towns fund bid, with £24.3 million awarded and another £85 million leveraged to invest in the town through its investment plan. However, I will highlight Professor Chris Whitty’s recent report on health disparities in coastal communities and his recommendations.

While I welcome the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Professor Whitty highlights the clear commonality in the drivers of poor health, which include deprivation, poor housing, alcohol and/or substance misuse, low educational attainment, poor transport infrastructure and connectivity, and a lack of diversity in jobs and local communities. Will the Minister consider those common factors in strategies for levelling up coastal communities during the Parliament?

I welcome the Chancellor’s focus in the Budget on helping working families to meet the cost of living and helping to support more vulnerable families. Poverty reduction comes through well-paid jobs, but more money for universal credit—an in-work benefit—is essential in enabling people to work and get the financial support that they need. By reducing the taper rate from 63% to 55%, millions of people will be able to keep more of their income—it is a tax cut for the lowest paid. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), who pioneered universal credit, said:

“More money for Universal Credit is vital to support the conservative ideals of hard work and determination.”

I also welcome the rise in the national living wage, which will help working families to meet the cost of living and help to level up.

Investment in people continues with investment in education and improving skills. It is fantastic that we are increasing skills funding by 42% in cash terms, meeting our national skills fund commitment. The new numeracy programme will help to tackle poor numeracy skills, improve basic maths skills and therefore improve people’s earnings and employment opportunities. Again, that is levelling up.

I welcome the funding boost in our primary and secondary schools, but I would like to see the opportunity area funding that supports social mobility and levelling up in some of the most disadvantaged areas extended to more left-behind places, and especially coastal communities. Hastings and St Leonards schoolchildren and teachers have hugely benefited from that targeted funding for the past five years.

The continuation of the holiday activities and food programme is very welcome. To coin the words of my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) when she was children’s Minister, the HAF programme is a living, breathing example of levelling up in action.

I have got so much more to say, but I have to cut it short. The Budget is very welcome.