Steve Darling takes Torbay's Budget concerns to Parliament

Mr Darling, who is now the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Work and Pensions and sits on the Work and Pensions Committee, acknowledged the “yawning £10 billion gap in the finances”, but said: “There are a couple of areas that I fear the Government failed to tackle in the Budget”. 

On welfare, “failure to tackle the two-child cap will leave 1.6 million children still in need, so I hope the Government will address that as a matter of urgency,” he said.

Mr Darling also brought up the winter fuel allowance changes which meant households will no longer be eligible for the support unless they receive Pension Credit or certain other means-tested benefits.

“I am still getting dozens of emails from residents who are unable to claim support because they are just above the threshold, and who are worried as the winter starts to kick in. Again, I hope that the Government will come forward with some amelioration to support those who most need it: our pensioners in need.”

Mr Darling did welcome the additional funding for the NHS, but says the Liberal Democrats would have paid for the funding through taxes on “big banks and giant tech”.

Given the state of Torbay Hospital, Mr Darling emphasised the urgency to continue with the new hospital programme, which was paused for review by Health Secretary Wes Streeting last month. 

Darling also noted a new strain on healthcare from the Budget; the changes to national insurance contributions and the impact it will have on GPs. He called them the “canary in the coalmine” for other businesses and sectors. 

“GPs are the service that many residents come up against when reaching out to our NHS, yet the changes to national insurance contributions are set to hit them hard. They are small businesses, and it seems that they are the canary in the coal mine for a number of other small businesses across the United Kingdom.”

One big issue that other MPs also addressed was social care and the impact of national insurance rises on care providers. Mr Darling welcomed the expanded earnings threshold settlement for carer’s allowance, but described the sector as a “cliff edge”. 

Mr Darling said: “I have been contacted by companies such as Bay Care, which gives domiciliary support and is worried about the impact of the change to NICs on its ability to support people, as well as nursing and other residential care services that are on the edge of viability and are also impacted by that change.

“I am concerned that the Government have to date failed to deal with social care, but we look forward to working with them—we want to work across the parties—to drive a proper way forward for social care. “

Darling also highlighted the pressures in Torbay’s business community, and that much of the budget had failed to alleviate those pressures.

“Businesses have seen their utility bills treble,” he said.

“A number of businesses are struggling with COVID debts that remain outstanding. A manufacturer told me that he is fearful that the business’s top office elsewhere in the world will ask it to consider offshoring to Taiwan some of the manufacturing that happens in Torbay at the moment.

“I was particularly interested to hear from businesses in the hospitality sector, which we have a lot of in the west of England. Hotels and B&Bs are all really concerned that we will see a significant reduction in employment, and Paignton Zoo tells me that the national insurance threshold being lowered to £5,000 will hit them hard. I fear that these national insurance proposals will rip the heart out of the tourism industry in the west of England.”