7:09pm Tuesday 27th March 2007
By Lindsay Hoyle
In a packed House of Commons, Gordon Brown delivered his final Budget and announced that spending on public services is set to increase with investment in education rising to its highest ever level.
This will be good news for schools in Chorley and confirms that education remains the Government's number one priority.
Mr Brown also promised increases in Child Benefit over the next three years to £20 a week.
In 1997 Child Benefit was just £575 a year, by 2010 this figure will reach £1,000.
Already 4,000 families and 7,400 children in Chorley benefit from Labour's tax credits.
Gordon Brown announced an increase in the child element of the Child Tax Credit by £150 per year.
On top of this, the Chancellor stated that he was able to cut the basic rate of income tax from 22 pence to 20 pence from April 2008.
He also looked to help pensioners with increases in pensioners' tax allowance which will take 600,000 pensioners out of paying income tax altogether, as we move forward to restore the earnings link for the basic state pension.
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