I was delighted to hear this month that Sevenoaks District Council leader Julia Thornton, Cabinet member Lesley Dyball and council officers, have successfully obtained £40,000 of new, external grant funding on behalf of the local Citizens Advice for the coming year. This will come from Kent County Council and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. While Sevenoaks District Council were still guaranteeing for the next three years an annual grant of £81,540 (the largest Council grant to any voluntary organization) like many of you I was concerned about the grant reduction of £35,000.
However, having raised such concerns with council leader Julia Thornton, I was assured the council was working on ways to provide further support and assistance – and so it has proved to be the case.
This is fantastic news and means overall Citizen’s Advice will see an increase in funding, meaning no change to the vital work they do for our community. My huge thanks to Julia, Lesley and officers for all the hard work they have put in to win these awards so quickly.
Nationally, this month also saw the Chancellor deliver the Spring Budget, and it has been great to hear local reactions. A number of residents have mentioned to me both the cut in National Insurance, and the changes to the threshold at which families start to pay the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC). Both of which will make a huge different to day-to-day finances for many families across Sevenoaks.
The cut in National Insurance in the Spring Budget from 10% to 8% will benefit 27 million working people from April. Combined with the cut to NICs at the Autumn Statement, that is a tax cut of over £900 for the average worker earning £35,400 - giving the average earner the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975.
On child benefit, this was a topic many of you had raised with me at surgeries and by email since becoming an MP. The current rate of withdrawal between £50,000 - £60,000 causes a steep marginal tax rate – especially if you have multiple children, and there is a fairness point around the full benefit being lost by single earners over £50,000 whereas two-income households could potentially earn up to £98,000 without any loss. I was therefore delighted that as part of the Treasury Team I have been able to play in part in dealing with this issue. The changes announced by the Chancellor mean the threshold at which families start to pay the HICBC is now rising from £50,000 to £60,000, and it is withdrawn more slowly above this between £60,000 and £80,000. This comes into force from this April, meaning nearly half a million families will gain around £1,300 in the next tax year. And, going forward, this Conservative Government will end the unfairness of single-earner families being treated the same as double-earner families.
I will always stand up for Sevenoaks and Swanley residents in Westminster, and if you have any concerns you wish to raise with me, please do not hesitate to get in touch with my office at [email protected].
Laura Trott
MP for Sevenoaks and Swanley
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