The new parliamentary session commences next week with the Queen’s Speech, and will build on the considerable work undertaken over the last year.

In recent weeks the National Insurance Contributions Act received royal assent. This will increase even further the amount people can earn before paying National Insurance to £12,570 from July.

This is the largest increase in a starting personal tax threshold in British history, equivalent to a £6 billion tax cut for nearly 30 million workers. It will be worth more than £330 a year and marks the largest single personal tax cut in a decade.

There is of course a need for further support ahead of that change and this work has already started. More than £9 billion of financial backing to help with energy bills is in place alongside the Government doubling the Household Support Fund to £1 billion of funding to be distributed via local authorities around the country.

At the start of last month the National Living Wage increased by 6.6 per cent to £9.50 per hour for those over the age of 23, representing an increase of over £1,000 to more than 2 million full-time workers this year, and over £5,000 for a full-time worker since its introduction in 2016.

The recent Spring Statement saw the Employment Allowance raised to £5,000; this is a £1,000 tax cut for small businesses, with the allowance cutting employers’ national insurance tax bills.

Through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to help level up the country, Crawley Borough Council is to receive £1 million and West Sussex County Council is to receive more than £3.6 million from the Government.

The financial support can go on projects including free tutoring, digital training and flexible educational courses, as well as measures to get more young people into high-skilled jobs.

At the General Election in 2019 I was proud to stand on a manifesto which was committed to supporting the police and ensuring they have the resources needed to keep us safe.

This has included the Prime Minister’s pledge to get 20,000 more officers on the streets. This work has continued since July 2019 and has so far seen more than 13,500 new officers recruited. This includes more than 250 new officers for Sussex Police, which keeps us safe here in Crawley.

A funding boost of more than £1.9 million was recently confirmed for our local force as part of Government’s £130 million programme to tackle the most devastating types of crime including knife crime, gun crime and homicide.

As Crawley MP I will continue to fight for such investment in, and support for, our local area.

Henry Smith MP