Tag: Westminster

Burnham hands England’s mayors share of income tax to make lives better ‘in every postcode’

The Prime Minister has launched ‘the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation’, giving England’s communities greater control over the decisions that shape jobs, transport, housing and public services in their area

  • Biggest transfer of power, funding and responsibility from Westminster in a generation
  • Mayors to keep a share of income tax and business rates revenues so communities directly benefit when their economy grows, with new powers for communities still on the road to devolution
  • Taking a tried and tested approach nationwide – delivering better transport, more homes and skills training matched to local jobs

The Prime Minister yesterday launched ‘the biggest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation’, giving communities greater control over the decisions that shape jobs, transport, housing and public services in their area.

As part of the largest package of financial powers ever offered to English mayors, mayors will receive a share of income tax revenues for the first time.

This means when places create jobs and grow their economies, they will now keep more of the rewards – giving local leaders new powers to invest in what matters most locally.

The government wants every community to benefit from stronger local decision-making. Areas without a mayor will still be supported to establish strategic authorities and gain greater control over local priorities.

In his second week in office, the Prime Minister told his Cabinet that it is time to launch a new era of devolution – taking power and decision-making out of SW1 and putting it closer to people’s lives.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “I said we’d take power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country. Today, we make good on that promise.

“Under our plans, more of the taxes raised in a community will stay in that community. Soon, every local leader will have the power and resources to improve public transport, build homes and create jobs.

“I know what it’s like to be ignored by politicians in Westminster. I’m not going to make that same mistake now I’m PM.

“The whole of government will now pull together behind the people and places that desperately need our support. This is how we’ll bring back hope and bring power home to you.”

The plans will end the Whitehall-first culture that has held back local areas for decades, forcing departments to justify why powers should stay in Westminster rather than be handed to local leaders.

By shifting power, funding and decision-making closer to people, the changes will give every part of the country the tools to create strong local economies, improve public services and shape its own future.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP said: “The people who best understand what skills employers want, what transport an area needs and where investment can make the biggest difference are those who live there.

“For the first time we’re giving Mayors a share of income tax so communities directly benefit when their economy grows – passing power out of Westminster and driving growth in every postcode. 

“This is the way we start to build new hope and advance the working people of this country.”

From next spring, mayors will begin retaining a greater share of locally generated revenues, starting with business rates. Further details on this and on income tax retention will be set out in a roadmap at the Budget and will be underpinned by the government’s firm commitment to fiscal discipline.

Over time, local areas will move away from dependence on Whitehall grants and towards funding that rewards local growth.

The ambition is to extend the benefits of devolution across the whole UK, working with devolved governments and local leaders to give communities more control over their future.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner said:  “This is the first step in our plan to rewire this country and build a better future, where power is no longer hoarded in Westminster but is put back in the hands of local people – where it belongs.

“Our devolution revolution is about bringing an end to the begging-bowl culture of the past, and instead making sure our local leaders have the tools they need to drive the change that communities have been crying out for.

“We need every region to be firing on all cylinders if we want good growth in every postcode, and we will do everything in our power to make that a reality.”

The reforms will be driven by a strengthened No10 North operation, working with mayors, local leaders and other partners to remove barriers to growth, accelerate delivery and ensure government is better connected to communities across the country.

Local leaders will gain greater control over the services that shape people’s lives, including housing, transport, skills, employment support and public services.

This includes powers to:

  • Bring rail and bus services under greater local control, helping introduce integrated ticketing and more reliable services.
  • Build more homes where they’re needed and unlock stalled development sites by giving local leaders stronger planning and regeneration powers and more devolved funding.
  • Give more control over large local transport schemes, trams and metros to Mayors by removing and streamlining Whitehall.
  • Give mayors control over 16-19 funding and employment support, so young people can train for the jobs local employers need and people out of work can get tailored support back into employment.
  • Back local industries and innovative businesses, and attract investment, creating more well-paid jobs.
  • Where power is devolved, Whitehall resource will follow, giving devolved leaders the resources they need to drive change closer to home

Reforms will remove barriers that prevent locally led transport projects from going ahead, handing over new planning powers for mayors and give local areas greater flexibility over how funding is spent.

Under a new “local first” principle, ministers will be expected to justify why powers should remain in Whitehall rather than being devolved.

The United Kingdom has invested less in its future than any other G7 country over the past three decades. Giving local leaders greater control over funding and investment decisions will help unlock opportunities that have too often been overlooked by a Whitehall-led approach.

The Prime Minister believes the country’s towns, cities and communities can drive far more growth and opportunity if they are given the tools to do so.

Where local leaders have been trusted with greater responsibility, they have already delivered results:

  • In West Yorkshire, a Housing Investment Fund of up to £334 million is helping unlock land for development and bring forward stalled sites, supporting the delivery of thousands of new homes.
  • In the Liverpool City Region, local leaders are transforming transport through the rollout of Tap and Go ticketing on Merseyrail, bringing the bus network into local control later this year and taking rail services back into public ownership by 2028.
  • In the North East, 65,000 residents have been supported to gain qualifications, opening up new employment opportunities in sectors including construction and childcare.

The UK cannot rely on success in a small number of places alone. By giving more communities the tools to succeed, these reforms will help spread opportunity more widely, raise living standards and ensure more people feel the benefits of economic success in their everyday lives.

As powers move out of Westminster, the Civil Service will become smaller and more strategic, focusing on the responsibilities that are best exercised at a national level.

Burnham: Time for problem-solving, not point-scoring

FIXING THE BROKEN SOCIAL CARE SYSTEM

Visiting a care home today [Wednesday 29th July], the Prime Minister will say he is making the choice to fix the broken social care system by finding common ground across party lines to tackle the big issues.

He will draw a line under decades of decline and a refusal to tackle these problems head on, calling on all political parties to focus on solving problems and find solutions together. 

He will reiterate the need for a new kind of politics that puts differences aside in order to come together and face up to the challenges that Westminster has left unaddressed for too long.

Delivering on that pledge, he has invited the leaders of the two main opposition parties, Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey, to meet with him today to kickstart this work and discuss how to drive urgent reform on social care.

Speaking ahead of his speech, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “Last week I said we needed a different kind of politics: problem-solving, not point-scoring. Nowhere is that more urgent than social care.

“For decades, governments have kicked this issue down the road because they’ve seen it as too risky, too difficult, and too complicated.

“Politicians might have different views but I’m serious about fixing this issue and to do that, we have to find common ground and listen to others to find a way forward.

“It’s time to draw a line under people playing politics when the human cost of that means carers struggling, families paying the price and our NHS buckling under the strain.

“This comes down to a choice. We can carry on passing the problem to the next generation, or we can face it head on and work together to build a care system that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve.

“This is about bringing back hope that we can finally fix the difficult issues that have been ignored for too long, and making Britain believe again. That’s why I’m making this choice and I’m prepared to put everything I’ve got behind it.”

At the speech he will be joined by the Health and Social Care Secretary and Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care which will draw up recommendations to deliver a National Care Service. 

She will also launch the Big Conversation on Care today, which will give the public their chance to share their views and help shape the future of adult social care in England so that it is designed for the people it is there to serve. 

It will be open to everyone through a new online platform, starting off the conversation by asking people about the values and principles we should all expect from a care system.

Baroness Casey of Blackstock said: “For too long, we have been stuck in the same cycle: crisis, promises of reform, another review, and then retreat, while the people who need care, and their families, bear the brunt. 

“Fixing adult social care is about far more than money. People are already paying for failure through council tax, pressure on the NHS, their savings, giving up work, and the forced sale of their homes.

“The choice is whether we keep putting money into a system that is unfair, unpredictable and broken, or have an honest conversation about how to build something better.

“That is why we need a public conversation on care that tackles the tough questions. It’s only by facing up to this problem together that we can fix social care once and for all.”

Making Britain Better, or just a gimmick? No10 North opens for business

Andy Burnham yesterday became the first Prime Minister to work from No10 North, declaring ‘the days of power being hoarded in SW1 are over’

  • Burnham throws open the doors to No10 North, marking a new era of power flowing out of Whitehall and into every postcode
  • PM revives the National Economic Council in Manchester, bringing ministers and regional mayors around the table to drive devolution from week one
  • Comes as PM gives families and business owners breathing space with VAT off electricity bills, £2 bus fare cap restored, and a 20% business rates cut for pubs, clubs and music venues

Andy Burnham yesterday became the first Prime Minister to work from No10 North as he declared the days of power being hoarded in SW1 are over.

Operating from Heron House in Manchester’s city centre, No10 North will be the government’s new situation room for growth. It brings the levers of local economic growth and devolution together under one roof for the first time.

The Prime Minister is expected to work from No10 North each week so that decisions about the country’s economic future will no longer exclusively be made in Westminster. Other ministers will also work from No10 North on a regular basis, underlining this Government’s determination to do things differently. 

The Prime Minister will chair the first meeting of the revived National Economic Council at No10 North today (Friday), bringing together senior ministers and regional mayors to put devolution at the centre of the Government’s mission to make Britian better. 

The National Economic Council was first established in 2008 to provide a national response to an economic emergency. Its revival reflects the Prime Minister’s belief that delivering economic growth now requires the same level of urgency, focus and collective action, bringing together other government departments and local leaders.

Regional mayors will be invited to sit around the table, cementing devolution at the centre of economic decision-making and backing the Prime Minister’s pledge to rewire Britain so that decisions are taken with local leaders, not just for them.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten, without the attention and investment they deserve.

“No 10 North will change that by putting more power into every postcode across the entire country.

“It will be the situation room for making Britain better – the place we use to get power out of Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can turn things around.

“The days of Whitehall resisting devolution are over, for good.”

Ahead of the first meeting of the National Economic Council, the Prime Minister will speak to leading Business Representative Organisations including the Federation of Small Business, CBI and the BCC to discuss how Government and business can work together to unlock growth, investment and create jobs across the country.

The NEC’s attendees will flex according to the issues under consideration, bringing together business leaders, trade unions and other partners where their expertise can help drive delivery.

Local economic growth, devolution strategy and local growth policy are being brought together so that government departments, mayors, combined authorities and business can work from a single plan rather than competing ones.

First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said: “Today marks a fundamental re-balancing of where power sits in our country. No10 North has been set up to drive economic growth in every postcode and put power in the hands of every community.

“Through this department, this Government will ensure that the places overlooked by Westminster for decades are given a real voice. No.10 North is open for business.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP added:  “This is a new era for devolution. Never before has a government been so serious about passing on its own power from Westminster in favour of local areas.

“No10 North sits at the heart of that plan. This is the way we signal real change – and the way we get it done.”

The meeting comes off the back of a series of interventions made to ease the cost of living and back local high streets, setting the tone for the PM’s cost-of-living government.

This week the government has announced:

  • The removal of VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October, saving a typical household around £45 a year.
  • The £2 cap on bus fares in England will kick in from January 2027.
  • A 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England from April 2027, benefiting nearly 32,000 venues and worth around £1,100 a year to a typical pub, on top of the 15% relief already in place.

Sarwar set to shun Holyrood for seat in House of Lords

SLAP IN THE FACE FOR SCOTLAND’s PARLIAMENT

SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar is set to turn his back on Holyrood and take a seat in the unelected House of Lords, according to reports last night.

Sarwar, who led Scottish Labour to a dreadful defeat in May’s Holyrood elections where the party won just 17 seats, has been tipped to become a junior business minister in Andy Burnham’s refreshed government.

There was pressure on Sarwar to step down following May’s humiliating results. but the list MSP (Sarwar didn’t win a first past the post seat but was elected through the PR top-up list system) vowed to fight on, claiming there was ‘unfinished business’.

Indeed, when asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords, Sarwar told The Herald: “No. I’m focused on being first minister of this great country.

“My only commitment, my only focus, is serving my constituents in Glasgow and serving the great people of this country, if I get the honour of being first minister.”

Last month he confirmed his determination to lead Scottish Labour for the full Holyrood term into the next elections: ‘I’m hungry for the fight ahead and I want to play my full part in making sure this country never ends up in the hands of Nigel Farage and Reform’

Just a few short weeks later, however, Sarwar appears to have had a change of mind.

The voters of Glasgow won’t even have an opportunity to have their say on Sarwar’s decision when he packs his bags and scurries down to Westminster’s unelected House of Lords – the very institution he said should be abolished!

There will be no by-election as Sarwar was elected as a list MSP, so he will simply be replaced by the next person on Glasgow’s Labour’s list.

Isn’t democracy wonderful!

£60 million fund launched to transform employment support

Businesses, charities and innovators are being invited to compete for a share of up to £60 million to transform how disabled people and those with health conditions are supported into work, the Government has announced today [14th July].

  • Businesses, charities and organisations to bid for up to £60 million to fund innovative ideas to support disabled people move closer and into work.
  • Expert panel – including Paralympian Tanni Grey Thompson – to help design the fund and shortlist best ideas
  • Comes as part of £3.5 billion employment support package to knock down barriers to opportunity for disabled people and those with health conditions.

The Government’s Pathways to Work Innovation Fund is a ‘call to action’ for the private, voluntary and public sectors to come forward with the most ambitious, creative ideas to help disabled people and those with health conditions get into and on at work.

The Fund will open for bids in September, with organisations across the UK invited to compete for funding to test genuinely new approaches to employment support.

With 2.8 million people currently out of work due to ill-health, and the Keep Britain Working review estimating economic inactivity caused by health conditions costs the UK economy £212 billion a year, the Government is looking to work alongside business, charities, tech innovators and disabled people themselves to tackle the issue and improve employment support.

The Fund forms part of the Government’s commitment to break down barriers to opportunity for disabled people backed by £3.5 billion in tailored employment support. This includes intensive, one-to-one job help from specialist advisers in their own communities, meeting people where they are, alongside a joined-up work and health offer.

https://twitter.com/DWPgovuk/status/2075852621819064804/video/1

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: “We inherited a welfare system which has locked too many disabled people and those with health conditions out of work.

“We’re determined to ensure no talent is left behind, and that people are given the support they need. Through our £3.5 billion Pathways to Work employment support offer, we’ve seen that personalised support can be life-changing.

“Now we’re calling on business, disabled people and charities to work with us, and bring forward their ideas to transform employment support.”

An expert panel – including Paralympian Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson – will help shape the fund’s design and advise on which bids should be funded, ensuring the voices and experience of disabled people are placed at the very heart of the process.

It comes as the Department is embracing innovation by using technologies including AI and machine learning to deliver more efficient services, modernise systems and support more people into work, including a new tool to help people into jobs.

Paralympian and Member of House of Lords, Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson, said: “I am delighted to be joining this expert panel at such an important moment. Finding and sustaining work matters enormously – not just for individual wellbeing and independence, but for society as a whole.

“We know that with the right support, disabled people can and do thrive in the workplace.

“The world is changing rapidly, and the systems that support disabled people must keep pace with that change. This Fund is a real opportunity to back the bold, creative ideas that can make that happen.”

To mark the launch, the Work and Pensions Secretary will today visit TechUK, the UK’s leading technology trade association, where he will meet with their members at a tech and innovation showcase to see cutting-edge innovation in action and discuss how technology can help transform people’s working lives.

The new approach comes alongside wider Government action to help people into work and fulfil their full potential, as part of reforms to the broken welfare system this government inherited, including:

  • Rebalancing Universal Credit to remove the perverse incentives that push people away from work.
  • Introducing a Right to Try Work Guarantee, giving everyone who can work the chance to do so without fear of losing their benefits.
  • Investing £3.5 billion in tailored employment support for sick or disabled people.
  • Increasing face-to-face assessments for health benefits.
  • Tackling fraud and error in the benefits system, saving £14.6 billion over this Parliament
  • Alan Milburn is due to bring his final recommendations later this year on tackling the barriers young people face, and the Timms review is looking at how to make sure PIP is fit and fair for the future.

Antony Walker, Deputy CEO of TechUK, said: “The announcement that the Department for Work and Pensions is investing into an Innovation Fund is very welcome. Thousands of disabled people and those with health conditions are locked out of the workforce, not for lack of talent, but because of barriers that persist across many careers.

“Our members are already developing and deploying innovative technologies that are breaking down those barriers, helping people to find work, stay in work and thrive in their careers.

“This investment has the potential to build on that success, accelerating the adoption of proven solutions and supporting even more disabled people to access rewarding employment while helping employers tap into a wider pool of talent.”

The Pathways to Work Innovation Fund will open for bids in September 2026. Full details on how to apply will be published in due course.

Report backs benefit boost for 66-year-olds amid State Pension age rise

The cross-party Work and Pensions Committee has backed calls for the Government to increase Universal Credit for 66-year-olds to prevent hardship as the State Pension age rises to 67, in a report published yesterday.

Temporary support urged for pre-pensioners

The Transition to State Pension Age report, says the Government should consult on the change with a view to implementing it by the end of 2026 as a temporary measure, allowing time to develop longer-term support.

The State Pension age is already being gradually increased and will reach 67 by April 2028. A growing number of 66-year-olds may have to rely on the £425-a-month standard rate of Universal Credit for longer, despite worsening health. Pension Credit, which guarantees £1,031 a month, is only available once they reach State Pension age.

This leaves many pre-pensioners, particularly those with health issues, caring responsibilities or long histories in labour-intensive jobs, relying on the savings they may have set aside for retirement until they reach the State Pension age.

Rising poverty and uneven health outcomes

The Committee warns that when the State Pension age last rose in 2020, poverty more than doubled among people in the year approaching it, rising from 10% to 24%, putting 100,000 below the poverty line. With people now waiting a further year, and many already frail, the “impact is likely to be greater this time”.

Meanwhile, only 42% of 66 year-olds are in paid work, while almost a quarter (24%) of the poorest 60-65 year-old pre-pensioners are working while frail, which research has shown deepens health problems. 

Giving further support through Universal Credit to 66-year-olds would cost £600 million of the potential £10.5 billion savings made from the rise. While the impact on efforts to boost employment may be a consideration, the report says, “impact on work incentives being outweighed by the imperative to reduce poverty”.

Concerns over outdated evidence base

In the report, MPs on the Committee raise concerns about “poor policymaking”, after hearing that the most recent impact assessments for the State Pension age increase are more than a decade-old (2011 and 2013), and none are planned until after the rise is complete. This has caused a “significant gap in the Government’s understanding” of the impact of the rise.

They added that “an opportunity to inform mitigations has been missed” after the Government failed to act on committee recommendation last year in its Pensioner Poverty report to conduct an impact assessment ahead of the State Pension age rise.

Work and Pensions Committee Chair Debbie Abrahams said: “We can’t just allow people who are already struggling as they approach pension age to be forced to choose between continuing work in poor health or prolonging their poverty as they wait for their State Pension to kick in. 

“This is not the later life that anyone wants or to see their loved ones endure after providing for decades.

“We should recognise that pre-pensioners have greater needs and greater barriers into employment due to ill-health, age discrimination, lack of opportunity to upskill. More than half of people are not in paid work in their mid-60s, and they’re not likely to get it if they’ve been effectively written off.

“Additional social security payments are essential in reducing the compounding effects of the lottery of life and the state pension age increase.

“The harm has already been done for some planning retirement if policymakers are using out-dated impact assessments in making the changes they are. As a result, we know there will be an impact, but we don’t know how big it will be.

“But it’s not too late; if the Government takes action quickly those who face poverty because they deplete their savings before reaching pension age can be helped.”

Foreign Affairs Committee: “unanswered questions” over Mandelson vetting

Report:  The appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the United States

Read the report [HTML]

Despite hours of testimony and the unprecedented release of over 1,500 pages of documents through the Humble Address, unanswered questions remain over how Peter Mandelson’s appointment as British Ambassador to the United States of America was allowed to go ahead, a report by the Foreign Affairs Committee finds.

It concludes that it is “difficult to understand how Peter Mandelson was appointed if he were a perceived risk to national security” with the Committee finding “no evidence” of what the mitigations in place were.

Process was not followed and the usual checks and balances were not made, the report concludes. The Committee calls for no public appointments to be announced or made without the appropriate security clearance first being granted. 

Today’s report calls for a Foreign Affairs Committee veto on political appointments to Heads of Mission posts, and a compulsory pre-appointment hearing with the Committee.

Messages published as part of the Humble Address show the dismissive view held about the need for security clearance for Peter Mandelson to take up this post, as though officials were looking for reasons not to bother with vetting.

The report finds that record keeping throughout this process has been appalling and there is no audit trail of the decision-making which led to this appointment. The Committee concludes that the Civil Service Code has been failed.

The report sets out reforms to security vetting and due diligence:

  • When a Prime Minister wishes to make a specific appointment, they should always build in time to consult the Head of Diplomatic Service and the Foreign Secretary.
  • The Cabinet Office, in consultation with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, should set out a process for political appointments
  • The due diligence report must be shared with the hiring department, and the department must be given the opportunity to contribute fully to the due diligence. 

Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry MP, said: “Despite my Committee’s extensive scrutiny and evidence gathering, and the thousands of pages published via the Humble Address, there are still unanswered questions as to how someone so clearly unfit was appointed British Ambassador to the United States.

“Processes were rushed or simply not followed. The usual checks and balances were not made. Vital security checks, integral to our national security, seemed to be viewed as a nuisance.

“Mandelson’s appointment was an unmitigated disaster for the country. It should never have been allowed to happen, and it cannot ever be repeated. To prevent anything similar from happening again, no public appointments should be made without security vetting having already taken place.

“With the appointment announced, Mandelson on the payroll, and constant pressure from No. 10, it is no wonder that some civil servants in the Foreign Office felt the appointment was a forgone conclusion.

“But when our nation’s security is at stake, there can be no exceptions made, regardless of the individual’s public profile or sense of pressure. The lack of record keeping in particular is utterly astounding and a clear failure to abide by the Civil Service Code.”

“We are where we are, in part, because decisions were taken behind closed doors, with little to no external scrutiny. High-stakes political appointments to diplomatic positions need closer examination than internal ones.

On the rare occasion political appointments do occur, the Foreign Affairs Committee should be granted public pre-appointment hearings and an unconditional veto, to ensure an open and transparent process.

“Peter Mandelson’s appointment has been highly damaging for the Government, painful and offensive to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and it has diminished our country in the eyes of the world.”

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Lumo supports next generation of leaders with Parliament visit

Lumo has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the communities it serves by providing complimentary rail travel for a group of young interns from Dr Scott Arthur MP’s Edinburgh constituency during a visit to Parliament.

The five interns travelled with Lumo to Westminster as part of an educational visit designed to give them first-hand insight into the UK’s democratic process and the work of Parliament.

By supporting the visit, Lumo helped remove the cost of travel, enabling the group to experience national politics and public service while strengthening connections between communities and decision-makers.

The initiative comes shortly after Lumo was named the UK’s best value train operator, recognising the company’s commitment to delivering affordable, high-quality rail travel while connecting communities across its growing network.

Stuart Jones, Managing Director of First Rail Open Access, said: “At Lumo, we’re passionate about connecting communities, not just through affordable and sustainable rail travel, but by helping create opportunities for people across the regions we serve.

“Being recognised as the UK’s best value train operator reflects our belief that rail should be accessible to everyone. Supporting visits like this is another way we can help break down barriers and ensure young people have the opportunity to experience Parliament first-hand, regardless of their background.

“We’re proud to work with parliamentarians and local partners to invest in the next generation, broaden horizons and demonstrate that rail can play a positive role far beyond simply getting people from A to B.”

Dr Scott Arthur MP said: “It was a pleasure to welcome these interns from my Edinburgh constituency to Parliament. Opportunities like this can make a real difference in helping young people see how politics works in practice and understand how decisions are made.

“By supporting their travel, Lumo has helped remove a simple but important barrier and made it easier for them to take part in a valuable educational experience.

“I’m grateful for their support in helping open up access to Parliament and encouraging the next generation to engage with public life.”

Lumo operates affordable rail services connecting Edinburgh, Newcastle and Morpeth with London, with new services also serving Stirling, Motherwell, Carlisle and Preston. Through initiatives such as this, the operator continues to support education, social mobility and stronger links between the communities along its route.

Edinburgh attractions back Great British Summer Savings

  • Families across the UK are benefiting from reduced VAT on ticket prices as part of the Great British Summer Savings.
  • Cinemas, soft plays and theme parks are among the attractions where the savings will be passed on.
  • Businesses will also benefit from increased footfall during the summer holidays.

Attractions across Edinburgh and the east of Scotland are embracing the UK Government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme – making family days out more affordable.

The initiative, which cut VAT from 20% to 5% on children’s tickets on a variety of attractions and days out, and on children’s menu meals in restaurants, is now in operation and will run until 1 September.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Kirsty McNeill said: “Now schools are out for the summer across the east of Scotland, we want families to make the most of their time together.

“That’s why this summer, the UK Government is cutting the cost of a family day out with the Great British Summer Savings VAT reduction – helping families across the UK make the most of the summer break.

“Businesses will also feel the benefits with increased visitor numbers and more people discovering the wonderful range of activities and attractions we have throughout Scotland and the whole of the UK.

“Too many parents feel they have to hold back on treats or days out together because of cost of living pressures so the UK Government is slashing the VAT on a range of kids’ activities so families can afford more time together.”

One Edinburgh attraction supporting the savings for families is Camera Obscura and World of Illusions, which has already refunded the price difference to 1200 pre-paid tickets.

Tony Millar, Camera Obscura and World of Illusion’s manager, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the Great British Summer Savings initiative and to pass the benefit directly on to visitors. The summer holidays are an important time for families to make memories together, but we know the cost of days out can add up. 

“By passing on the VAT reduction and reducing our ticket prices over the summer, we hope to make it easier for families, tourists and local visitors to enjoy a fun, memorable and great-value day out in the heart of Edinburgh.”

The VAT rate on eligible activities will be cut from 20% to 5% and applies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The reduced rate will apply to:

  • Children’s menu meals served in restaurants for consumption on the premises;
  • Children’s and family tickets for cinemas, theatres, concerts, shows and exhibitions;
  • Admission tickets, for both children and adults, to a range of attractions, including: amusement parks, fairs, museums, zoos, soft play centres, circuses, adventure parks, nature reserves, wildlife parks and observation attractions.

This money-saving package supports families, while also supporting businesses through increased footfall. The government expects businesses to pass on VAT savings to customers.

Guidance for businesses in scope of the policy has been published by HMRC which outlines how businesses can operate the scheme.

For more information, see HM Treasury’s press release.