- The Chancellor is in Edinburgh today to showcase the support the UK Government is providing the people of Scotland through a £37bn package.
- It comes after July’s National Insurance Contribution threshold rise for workers across Scotland, putting £330 back into the pockets of a typical employee this year and saving households over £260m.
- The Chancellor will also be meeting leaders of Scotland’s green energy industry, emphasising our drive to improve Britain’s energy security.
The Chancellor will today reaffirm the UK Government commitment to help the people of Scotland with rising costs in the coming months, as it continues to deliver its £37bn package of support.
On a visit to Edinburgh, Nadhim Zahawi will also emphasise the UK Government’s commitment to energy security and making sure we have the green supplies of power we need for the future.
He will be meeting some of the figures who have led Scotland to the cutting edge of green power generation technology, as well as apprentices starting out in the industry. His visit will take in one of Scotland’s leading companies in the field of tidal energy as well a windfarm capable of providing power to up to 11,000 homes.
This comes in the same week that Chancellor began a series of meetings with energy generation companies as part of ongoing discussions on what more the industry can do to ensure markets function effectively for consumers.
The visit comes as the UK government is providing 689,000 households in Scotland with the £650 cost of living payment as well as £400 to help people with their energy bills, from October, over the winter months. It has also committed an extra £82 million for the Scottish Government to help vulnerable families at their discretion – in addition to the significant income tax and welfare powers they already have.
The UK Government has also launched the Review of Electricity Markets Arrangement to address higher energy costs, the need to boost energy security and the need to move the UK to a cleaner energy system as well as the Energy Security Bill, the most ambitious piece of legislation in the sector for more than a decade.
Zahawi is also sitting down with the leaders of Scotland’s financial services industry, which employs thousands of people in Scotland. He will listen to their concerns and emphasise the UK Government’s commitment to the sector.
The Chancellor will also meet performers from the world-famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “I know families across Scotland are feeling anxious about rising costs and the UK Government has stepped in to ease pressures on household budgets.
“We delivered an unprecedented level of support in July with a National Insurance cut that will put £330 back into workers’ pockets this year, while many of Scotland’s most vulnerable households have already received the first instalment of a £650 Cost of Living Payment.
“And there’s more to come. Not only will the second instalment of that payment arrive this autumn, but I’ve been clear that we are absolutely committed to bringing an equivalent to the £400 energy bills discount to Northern Ireland as soon as possible to ease the burden on families.
“We will continue to help support families in Northern Ireland through the global pressures we are all facing.”
The UK Government has provided a record £41 billion annual settlement for the next three years and we will continue to work collaboratively with them.
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