Executive Mayor of Mansfield Andy Abrahams has responded to the Chancellor’s Budget.
He welcomed news that local authorities will be able to keep more of the money raised through the sale of council homes under the Right to Buy programme.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, delivering her first budget in the House of Commons yesterday, also announced that the discounts offered to council tenants wanting to buy their council home would be reduced. Details of this have yet to be announced.
Mayor Andy responded to these changes by saying: “Councils and housing authorities across the country, will be supporting these measures to tackle the national shortage in affordable housing.
“For too long local authorities have faced ever increasing waiting lists for council homes while their supply of housing has dwindled through Right to Buy.
“Not being able to use 100% of the income generated by those sales to reinvest in new housing has hindered our ability to provide more badly needed homes. Today’s announcement will help to address the clear need in Mansfield and elsewhere for more social housing for rent.”
The Mayor also welcomed the increases announced in grants to local authorities to pay for day-to-day public services and the boost to the affordable homes programme.
“Make no mistake, our finances remain tight and there will be no big spending spree on services in the coming years - even with this increase in support for local government,” he said. “But it is a welcome addition to our budgets and recognition of the vital services that local councils like Mansfield provide.
“Obviously, we need to examine the Budget in detail and await further details of what exactly it will mean for the council, particularly in relation to the authority’s own National Insurance employer contributions, but my initial reaction is positive.”
Regarding how the Budget could affect Mansfield’s local economy, the Mayor greeted the business rate relief announced for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors and the relief offered to small businesses in relation to increases to employer National Insurance contributions.
In addition, he welcomed increases to the National Minimum Wage and news that former mineworkers would receive a pension boost as result of the Government returning £1.4bn in the Mineworkers Pension Investment Reserve Fund back to pensioners.
He said: “In Mansfield, we have many small independent enterprises and start-ups. They make up a significant proportion of our local economy so anything that helps them to thrive has to be welcomed.
“We also have many former miners in our community who will now see more money in their pockets every week for the rest of their lives as result of these long overdue changes to their pension fund.”