Therese wrote for the East Anglian Daily Times this week about the Budget and her ongoing campaign to save Barclays Bank in Leiston ahead of formally presenting the petition to Parliament this coming week. You can read her article below:
"The Budget gave a welcome boost to families, with the headline being a further cut in National Insurance for working people – worth about £900 for the average salary. This is particularly helpful for seasonal workers in Suffolk Coastal as NI is calculated weekly. There are also nearly half a million families that will now receive child benefit. This comes alongside a freeze in fuel duty and there is further support for pubs and hospitality with alcohol duty freezes and extending business rates relief. Pensioners will benefit from a 8.5% uplift next month. Longer-term housing could get a boost as holiday lets will no longer get extra tax relief – a sensible adjustment so that for landlords it makes no difference tax wise if your tenants are there for a night or a year. Of course, landlords can continue to vary their rents but there is also more financial support for renters and those particularly struggling to get help from the Household Support Fund. Felixstowe Port enjoys an extension of tax support to attract jobs and investment while small businesses can be helped with the Growth guarantee for loans up to £2million. After all the hard work to tackle inflation – fuelled by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the Covid aftershocks, the outlook for the economy is positive. More details are available in my Budget special newsletter www.theresecoffey.co.uk/newsletter
A huge thank you to the 1,795 people who have so far signed my Parliamentary petition to save Barclays Bank in Leiston. Barclays is the last bank in Leiston and the last branch of Barclays in Suffolk Coastal after the closures of seven other branches over the last decade. We are in a digital age, but I know how much of a life-line local bank branches are for all sectors of the community, especially for local businesses and elderly and vulnerable residents. The petition also asks the Financial Conduct Authority to publish its assessment of the justification given by the bank. Last year, the government changed the law so the Financial Conduct Authority can start investigating these closures and that’s what I want to happen in this case. I raised the issue in the Treasury Select Committee recently and plan to do so again next week when the Chief Executives of the UK’s major banks appear. I am pleased the City Minister has also agreed to meet me. I intend to present the petition next Wednesday (20th March) so please sign and send or sign online via www.theresecoffey.co.uk/campaigns.
Both the Royal Mail and Post Office continue to disappoint – despite the increase in the costs of the stamp and the ongoing subsidy to support rural branches. I followed up on constituents’ concerns regarding deliveries. After investigation, the Royal Mail admitted there were problems in the IP12 area which they say they have fixed. If you are still concerned, please let me know. The Post Office is also intending to close another outreach branch in Kelsale. I met the Minister who agreed to make representations on behalf of residents given the Post Office has been deaf to pleas on helping rural communities, particularly with much older populations.
Finally, the Community Ownership Fund is open again for new applications. This fund has already helped local communities in Suffolk Coastal buy the Racehorse Inn in Westhall and Holton Pits for continued public access to the countryside. The fund covers a wide range of buildings and land used by the community which is at risk due to the end of a lease or an unsustainable business model. More information online at: www.gov.uk/guidance/community-ownership-fund-round-4-how-to-express-your-interest-in-applying."
