Budget 2025: Sheffield MP Louise Haigh, South Yorkshire mayor and Greens react to cost of living Budget
Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley has today responded to the Chancellor’s budget, hailing a host of measures to help ordinary people.
She said: “This budget was the progressive budget the country and residents in Sheffield Heeley voted for. It tackles the cost of living by bringing down energy bills and increasing the Minimum Wage, invests to lower NHS waiting lists and puts the economy on a path to lower debt.
“It's been achieved by taxing wealth, assets and unearned income.
“And at its heart it tackles the record levels of child poverty by abolishing the two-child benefit cap.
“This is the single biggest driver of child poverty and will immediately lift 450,000 children out of poverty.
“In the next few months resident across Sheffield Heeley will start to see the benefits of this budget, by lowering household bills, improving public services and investment in our communities.”
Sheffield’s Green Party councillors welcomed the lifting of the two child benefit cap but insisted the decision was “well overdue.”
Broomhill and Sharrow Vale councillor Maleiki Haybe added: “All credit to the anti-poverty campaigners who have fought a tenacious campaign since the cap was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017 and maintained by the Labour Government for 16 months till today’s announcement.
“The Green Party has long called for the cap to be lifted and so welcome this bending to public pressure by the Chancellor.
“630,000 children could be lifted out of poverty by lifting the cap but we need clarity over whether the overall benefits cap will also be lifted. This is currently set at £22,000.
“If it isn’t lifted 1 in 10 households currently affected by the cap will see no benefit at all and these children will be kept in poverty through political choice.”
South Yorkshire mayor, Oliver Coppard, that overall the Budget was good for South Yorkshire.
He said: “I’m pleased to see the two-child cap scrapped. That change will help 38,000 children in South Yorkshire get the support they deserve.
“I’m also proud we’ve secured a huge boost for housing; our capital funding is rising from £46 million to £118 million, alongside an extra £700 million for affordable homes. That’s money we’ll use to help more people onto the housing ladder.
“The Chancellor has confirmed rail fares and prescription costs will be frozen, and we’re doing our bit too. From January, we’ll keep tram fares frozen, cut the cost of longer Supertram journeys, and maintain child bus concessionary fares exactly where they are.
“I also welcome new powers to introduce a visitor levy. Even a small charge on hotel rooms could raise up to £7 million every year for South Yorkshire, money we can reinvest directly into our local events and services to make our region an even better place to visit.
“And changes to the Mineworker Pension Scheme will mean an average increase of £100 a week for former miners, helping more than 6,000 people across South Yorkshire.
“Not everything in the Budget will please everyone. We didn’t get the detail we need on big rail schemes for the North yet, but I’ll keep pushing for what we need from Northern Powerhouse Rail. And while a tiny number of properties in South Yorkshire worth more than £2m will pay an extra council tax charge, it’ll help to fund cuts to child poverty, so I support that change.
“Overall, today feels like a good day for South Yorkshire. And together in Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield we’ll make sure every pound of investment works hard for the people who need it most, as we restore the pride, purpose and prosperity of our region.”
Leader of Sheffield City Council, Coun Tom Hunt said: “The Budget contains significant and positive decisions for Sheffield. Abolishing the two-child benefit cap is very welcome. This will lift over 450,000 children across the UK out of poverty. An estimated 4,300 households in Sheffield and over 15,000 children will benefit with a boost to their income. Cuts to energy bills will also make a big difference to lots of our residents.
"We welcome new housing investment through the National Housing Delivery Fund. This will help us to regenerate more brownfield land in Sheffield and deliver new neighbourhoods.
"Sheffield is a city that is home to world-class manufacturing. The Government’s focus in the Budget to ‘buy, make and sell more in Britain’ speaks to our great strengths. The Budget supports skilled manufacturing jobs and apprenticeships in Sheffield through increased defence spending.
"We will wait for more details of local government funding next month. We stand ready to work with our communities, businesses and the government to provide more opportunities for our residents.”