What the Budget means for Newbury and West Berkshire

Last week's Budget contained some measures that will make a difference to people in Newbury and West Berkshire. I welcome them.

But after going through the detail, my overwhelming feeling is that the Government has still not matched the scale of the challenge facing families, businesses, and public services.

The Budget includes a £100 Household Energy Payment for households in council tax bands A to D from January, extends the zero rate of VAT on domestic electricity until July 2027, and delays planned increases in fuel duty until July 2027. It also includes further help for high-street businesses and additional investment in social and affordable housing.

Those things matter. But people don't experience the economy as a spreadsheet.

They experience it when the weekly shop costs more. When filling the car costs a fortune. When a small business wonders whether another increase in its costs will be the one it cannot absorb. When parents cannot get the SEND support their child needs. Or when getting a council service becomes harder because councils are being asked to meet growing demand with increasingly stretched resources.

That last point is particularly important here.

Like councils across the country, West Berkshire Council is facing significant financial pressure. Its 2026/27 spending plans involve more than £210 million of day-to-day services, including major commitments to adult social care and children’s services, while the council has sought Exceptional Financial Support from the Government.

The council’s latest published financial position shows that these pressures have not gone away, particularly in children’s services. West Berkshire Council is working hard to protect the services residents rely on, but the message I have consistently taken to Westminster is simple: local councils cannot indefinitely be expected to deliver more while the financial foundations underneath them become less secure. 

There are other areas where the Budget is welcome but temporary.

For rural Newbury and West Berkshire, suspending tariffs on fertiliser and heating oil will help. Delaying planned increases in fuel duty will help too. But farmers, rural businesses, and families need the confidence to plan for the long term, rather than constantly wondering what comes next.

And fundamentally, Britain needs growth.

The Liberal Democrat argument is that the Government should be much more ambitious about rebuilding Britain's economic relationship with Europe, including closer trading arrangements with the Single Market and Customs Union. Our position is that stronger growth should then be used to ease the tax burden and properly fund public services. The party's response to the Budget was that it contained too little capable of shifting the dial on growth.

That may sound like a national argument, but it has very local consequences.

A stronger economy means stronger public finances. It means businesses with the confidence to employ people and invest. It means councils with the financial stability to plan for the long term. And it means families keeping more of what they earn.

So I will support the things in this Budget that help Newbury and West Berkshire.

But I'll also keep pushing the Government to go further.