Northampton MP Andrew Lewer calls for greater local powers to combat cost of living crisis

MP for Northampton South Andrew Lewer has called on the Government to hand greater powers to local authorities to combat the ongoing cost of living crisis.

His comments came following the reveal of this year’s Spring Statement, laid out by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

While it was billed as the biggest personal tax cut for 25 years, many have questioned this and pointed out that millions are expected to fall into absolute poverty by next year.

The MP did find some positives in the statement. But he agreed that many aspects of it “could have gone further”.

Mr Lewer said: “I was pleased that the Chancellor took some good solid steps to address the cost of living crisis.

“I am pleased that the National Insurance threshold was raised by £3,000 and the 5p reduction in fuel duty, but I did feel that the Chancellor could have done more.

“I believe there was a missed opportunity to cancel the planned National Insurance tax rise and reduce the green levies that make up such a substantial part of our energy bills. These would have made a much bigger impact on people’s pockets.

“There are no easy answers to all of this, but we do have some tough choices to make in the future. My bottom line is that the days of tax and spend are feeding into this inflationary loop and just cannot continue.

“The economy needs a number of incentives to address productivity. Productivity levels in this country, particularly outside of London, are low and need to be addressed. We have an opportunity now to look at various ways of increasing investment levels including reforming the taxation system.”

This is not the first time that Mr Lewer has drawn attention to green levies on energy bills as a way of saving people money. He is also a member of the “Net Zero Scrutiny Group” which acts as a watchdog for the Government’s current pledge to reach net zero CO2 production by 2050.

Back in January, the group proposed that the levies, which are used to fund investments into greener energy sources, should be removed and that the UK should expand North Sea Exploration for oil and support shale gas extraction to bring the costs of fuel down.

Mr Lewer, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Devolution, has long argued that top-down management of local council investments has led to inefficiencies that are costing constituents. As the cost of living crisis continues, he suggested that now is a good time to bring more powers closer to home.

He said: “As I have argued ad infinitum greater local investment needs greater local devolution of powers.

“We are the most centralised Government in the western world. For too long Whitehall has put many strings on how money is spent here in Northamptonshire and that needs to change. Northamptonshire needs ownership of its investment decisions.

“We can no longer avoid making tough decisions, such as over shale gas and nuclear power. We desperately need to look hard and fast at all of our Government funding and spending and target it where it is needed best.”