“It’s a farce” – Salfordians want more help as Budget looms

Salfordians are calling on the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to use tomorrow’s Budget to cut energy bills and do more to help the average family.

Hunt is expected to delay a further rise in the energy cap from £2,500 to £3,000 for another three months but Salford families want him to go further.

One shopper, 67-year-old Christina Glancy was unhappy with keeping bills at their already high levels.

She said: “Instead of freezing, they should be coming down.

“The energy companies are making billions, more than they’ve ever made. It’s a farce.”

Another anticipated announcement is the raising of the limit in a pension before it is taxed, from £1million to £1.8 million, as Hunt tries to encourage over-50s back into work.

The UK had 1.1 million job vacancies in February according to the Office for National Statistics.

David Brereton, 72, was unhappy about the changes already announced to pensions. He said: “Rich people can retire whenever they like.

“If someone’s working manually and they’re worn out, they still have to work until they’re 68.

“It’s not fair to those people.”

Ms Glancy was also critical. She said: “For people younger than me, it’s working more, paying more tax, for a bad pension in this country.”

The government has already announced one other change to energy billing, with prepayment meter bills to be cut by £45.

Child support is expected to receive a boost , with families on Universal Credit receiving funding upfront.

The cap on funding per child on Universal Credit will also be raised, but a number has not been revealed yet.

No extra funding is expected for other families.

The state pension age will rise to 67 in the mid 2020s, and a review expected to bring the rise to 68 will be brought forward to the 2030s, a decade sooner than planned.

For high tech businesses, the Budget is expected to usher in 12 new ‘investment zones’ across the country, which Greater Manchester has been shortlisted for. This will offer £80 million in investment and ‘generous tax incentives’.

The Chancellor is due to deliver the Budget at around 12.30pm tomorrow, March 14.