Ahead of voting in Parliament in support of the Budget, Henry Smith MP has asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons how the announcements he made last week will support families in Crawley (on Tuesday, 21st March).

Commenting after speaking in Parliament, Henry said;

“At this time where we’re feeling the effects of Putin’s war in Ukraine and the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chancellor was right to ensure such a focus on support for people with the cost of living.

“One of the key commitments which will help many people in Crawley is the continued freeze to fuel duty. This marks the 13th consecutive year which fuel duty has been frozen and will come as a welcome boost to people’s pockets.”

Henry Smith MP asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt;

“What fiscal steps he is taking to provide financial support to people on lower incomes.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, responded;

“In addition to extending the Energy Price Guarantee, and to help people further, cost of living payments for vulnerable households will kick in next year. We are also uprating benefits and increasing the national living wage to £10.42 an hour.”

Henry continued;

“What assessment has my right hon. Friend made of the saving a typical family will achieve as a result of his fuel duty measures announced in last week’s Budget?”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer responded;

“I thank my hon. Friend for saying that. We think the average driver has saved about £200 in total since the 5p cut was introduced, but we are also introducing draught relief for beer drinkers in pubs and 30 hours of free childcare for young parents who are struggling with childcare costs. There are a lot of cost of living measures in the Budget.”