Last week's Autumn Statement had lots of good news for Moorlanders. The freeze of fuel duty will help everyone who uses their car or van to get to work, school or for visiting family and friends. The reduction in the taper rate of Universal Credit will help families across the Moorlands who want to progress in work without worrying about working that extra hour or taking that promotion. This reduction of the tax rate on benefits means that Moorlanders will no longer see a loss of benefits that makes taking on extra work simply not worth doing.
I was also really pleased that there will be an extra £1billion invested in broadband, including over £400million for businesses to help them to connect to fibre broadband. I know from many small businesses in the Moorlands that superfast broadband which is connected by copper wires running from upgraded cabinets, is just not suitable for their needs. Businesses need the upload speeds that only fibre to the premises can deliver, and I'm pleased that money will be available for those businesses to help them get the connectivity they need. But of course, there is always more to do and I am determined to find new and innovative ways to help you get the broadband speeds that you need, those speeds help so many people to be creative.