Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins has said hard-pressed residents in Chesterfield will be ‘bitterly disappointed’ after today’s spring statement.

The main announcements by Chancellor Rishi Sunak were:

• A cut of fuel duty by 5p per litre
• VAT relief of energy-efficient measures such as solar panels for domestic households
• Doubling the household support fund for local authorities
• National Insurance threshold to rise by £3,000

Responding to the fuel duty announcement, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis tweeted “If that’s all he’s doing on energy – it is limited and won’t impact the majority of households who will see a likely £1,300 average increase in year-on-year bills by October. My head has sunk. I just hope there’s a rabbit to come out of the hat”.

Toby Perkins MP stated “I’ve been contacted by so many concerned residents across Chesterfield and Staveley who are very worried by the energy and food price rises the National Insurance increase and the general cost of living going ever higher and were desperately hoping that the Chancellor would take meaningful action today.”

Sadly, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcements in the Spring Statement won’t do anything to alleviate those fears.

The government’s own OBR ( the Office for Budget Responsibility) have confirmed that even after these measures families are facing the biggest tax burden in 70 years and the biggest hit to household income on record, it is a real missed opportunity from this out-of-touch government.

Toby explained: “The measures he announced effectively mitigate the impact of the planned NI hike, which simply means people won’t be even more worse off, not better off.

The 5% cut in VAT on solar panels mean £500 off a £20,000 solar panel, welcome but hardly relevant to most people.

And the cut on fuel duty is around a quarter of the increase that we have seen in the last two or three weeks.

Meanwhile he again refused to introduce a windfall tax on oil and energy firms who have seen their profits quadruple as the French government and others have done; his £200 energy rebate is inadequate and will require households to pay it back. He has not increased tax on landlords or on stocks and shares but once again the tax hike is on earned not unearned wealth.

And there was nothing at all there for the disabled or people on benefits or pensioners all of whom will face the huge cost of living rise without any help whatsoever.

The IFS analysis shows that the Chancellor is giving back just 1/6^th of the extra taxes he is raising and that people will see a bigger hit to their cost of living than at any time since records began. And all this on the day that it was announced that the government lost £11.8Billion in fraud on their ineptly delivered Business bounce back loan scheme.”