Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
Labour Party | Edinburgh South West
WEST EDINBURGH TIMES
This month, as Chancellor, I set out public spending plans to the House of Commons.I allocated funding to the Scottish Executive which more than doubles the level available to be spent on schools and hospitals since the very first Scottish Executive in 1999. There’s no excuses – the money is there – let’s see the results.
And child tax credits will go up by £175 per year in April which will make a big difference to families. There will also be another increase in 2010 so that for families on low incomes, children’s benefits and tax credits will be worth at least £3500 a year for the first child.
And pensioners qualifying for the pension credit will see it increase by £5 per week for a single person and £7.65 for a couple. This is on top of the basic state pension which will be announced later this year.
This month, millions of people benefit from additional holiday entitlement and an increase to the national minimum wage – which I announced earlier this year.
Minimum annual holiday rights will increase from 20 days to 24 days from 1 October and to 28 days from 1 April 2009. Many people got no time off for bank and public holidays. This change ensures workers get at least 4 weeks holiday plus an additional 4 days from this month and an additional 8 days from 2009.
The minimum wage increased from £5.35 to £5.52 an hour for workers aged 22 and over, from £4.45 to £4.60 for 18-21 year olds, and from £3.30 to £3.40 for 16-17 year olds. More than a million people across the UK will be better off due to the minimum wage increases. When combined with Working Tax credits and other benefits this gives a guaranteed minimum income of at least £276 a week for families with one child and one full-time worker.
All of these changes are there to help people get on. That’s why we’ve increased tax credits, pension credits, holidays and the minimum wage – changes that will make a real difference to the lives of local families and pensioners.
