The big news from Westminster over the last few weeks, of course, has been the Budget. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, had a hard job to do to make sure that as many people as possible were protected from the global economic crisis which is affecting every country in the world.

The main steps he took to help people through these difficult times were
these:

•    a guarantee of a job, training or work placement for all 18-24 year olds
who are out of work for 12 months. 100,000 new jobs will be created to hep do this, along with 50,000 new jobs for older workers in areas of high unemployment;

•    there will be extra funding for Jobcentre Plus and the Flexible New Deal
so that they can offer a personalised service to people seeking work;

•    an increase from £6,000 to £10,000 in the limit on savings that can be
held before pension credits are reduced, which will go some way to help savers;

•    the increased Winter Fuel Allowance will be maintained at a higher level
for 2009 - worth £250 for people over 60 and £400 for those aged over 80;

•    child tax credits will be increased by £20 per year, families with
disabled children will receive an extra £100 to be paid into a child trust fund and families with severely disabled children will receive £200;

•    the basic state pension will go up by at least 2.5% even if the rate of
inflation is lower than that. This is on top of the increases in pension credit;

•    caring responsibilities for grandparents of working age will in future
count towards their entitlement for the basic state pension.

These are on top of the measures announced last year, such as the cuts in income tax which most people who have taxable income will be receiving. I believe these steps will go some way to help the vast majority of people in this country. Clearly, they have to be paid for, which is why the Chancellor also decided to introduce a new top tax rate for earnings above £150,000 a year. This, together with a clamp down on tax avoidance will help make sure that those who can afford to pay more do so.

Bring back our buses

Back to local news, a lot of people are still very angry about the way in which many local bus services are gradually being withdrawn or cut up.
Along with local campaigners, I have launched a campaign to “Bring Back our Buses!”. If you are concerned about the loss of a bus service, get in touch and join our campaign! You can find more details at the campaign website http://bringbackourbuses.blogspot.com/ or get in touch with me direct.