Meg welcomes extra cash for Hackney families

Meg Hillier today welcomed the Budget unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown as good news for Hackney families.

Gordon Brown announced that spending on public services is set to increase with spending on education rising to its highest ever level.

There is good news for families in Hackney. Child benefit will rise over the next three years to £20 a week (over £1,000 a year by 2010) and the child element of the child tax credit will be increased by £150 per year. Already 3,800 families and 7,100 children benefit from tax credits in Hackney.

Meg said, ‘Just over 1 in 5 people in Hackney are under 16, so measures to help children will make a big difference.’

In addition, Gordon Brown announced a cut in the basic rate of income tax from 22 pence to 20 pence from April 2008.

There is help for pensioners too with an increase in pensioners’ tax allowance which will take 600,000 pensioners out of paying income tax altogether.

The adult rate of the National Minimum Wage will be raised to £5.52 per hour and an increase in the Working Tax Credit, along with a major new initiative linking major retailers with Jobcentre Plus will help more people find jobs and employment in the future.

Full details of today’s budget can be found at
Budget 2007