Displaying items by tag: November Budget

The embattled chancellor was subject to conflicting pressures when he presented his Budget. The media wanted him to respond to the public's desire to end austerity. Amid media doom and gloom predictions, some encouraging Budget decisions are: Scrapping a fuel duty rise for petrol and diesel cars scheduled for April 2018. A new homelessness task force. Preventing developers purchasing land for financial reasons and then not building on it. £400m to regenerate housing estates.  80% of first-time buyers will be exempt from  stamp duty. National Living Wage rise of 4.4%. VAT threshold for small business to remain at £85,000 for two years while large technology groups like Google and Apple will pay more. £40m teacher training fund for underperforming schools.  Recruitment of 8,000 new computer science teachers for new National Centre for Computing. £2.8bn for the NHS in England. Pay rise for nurses, but not the police.

A school has written to parents asking for a £1-a-day voluntary contribution to help pay for pens, pencils, books, etc. The Robert Piggott CofE School in Berkshire said national changes to school funding meant they had to request donations to make up the shortfall. The school is in the Maidenhead constituency, which is represented by Mrs May. Many are saying that Theresa May was elected to represent Maidenhead on a manifesto that guaranteed to protect school funding, but she can't keep her promises to her own voters, let alone the rest of the country. Ministers have insisted that more money is being pumped into schools, and recently announced a new funding formula to ensure money is allocated in a fairer way. Education secretary Justine Greening said that an extra £1.3 billion will be found for England's schools from existing budgets. The next Budget is on 22 November. See also: