Rory on Spending Review of June 27th 2013

Rory has welcomed the Chancellor’s Spending Review, applauding its focus on “education, enterprise and infrastructure: all vital components to help make Cumbria the best place to live and do business.”

Speaking after the Chancellor’s announcements yesterday Rory said: “Any spending review that prioritises growth is good for Cumbria. The transport budget has increased, and whilst infrastructure is always a long-term project, we will definitely see the benefits of this as Cumbria is brought closer to the rest of the UK in terms of accessibility. We are freezing Council Tax, reducing nearly £100 from the average Council Tax bill for Cumbrian families over the next two years, and we are protecting our schools with a more flexible funding formula that aims to protect our rural schools. In recognition of the wealth of young talent we have here in Cumbria – just last week I met with some of our excellent young apprentices from Innovia, who won Apprentice Team of the Year – we are increasing the BIS capital budget, showing our commitment to increasing apprenticeships and, for our small businesses and indeed the farming sector, more support for exports from UKTI.

Our economy is moving into recovery, and we need to continue to make some very tough decisions in order to reduce current spending by £11.5bn in 2015-16. These decisions aren’t easy, but we are making progress, and I applaud the Chancellor’s commitment to steering this course towards a stronger, fairer economy.”

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