Wales Office

The Government is acting decisively and responsibly to help assist families, homebuyers and small businesses in Wales through this unprecedented period of global downturn, Secretary of State for Wales Paul Murphy said today.

A cut in VAT, extension of assistance for families on the lowest tax bands and increases in child benefit payments for 360,000 working Welsh families will all help to put back more money in pockets across Wales.

In addition, all pensioners across Wales can now expect to receive a one-off £60 payment from the Government in the New Year - on top of pension increases.

Mr Murphy said: “Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget report today put in an additional £20 billion to support the UK economy right now, to help families and businesses through the tough times ahead. This is the responsible thing to do to restore and maintain financial stability in the medium term and avoid the misery of a longer and deeper recession.

“Families, homebuyers and pensioners in Wales will all benefit from the measures announced today by the Chancellor, including a 2.5 per cent cut in VAT. There is also support for almost 195,000 small and medium-sized Welsh businesses through a package of tax relief and loan funding guarantees.

“In addition, measures such as business rate exemptions on vacant business properties and additional time to pay their tax bills for firms facing cash flow problems demonstrate how this Government is listening and responding to the needs of the business community. Both these measures were key requests I received from business people at recent All-Wales economic summits.”

Mr Murphy added: “Homebuyers in Wales and those struggling with mortgage payments will also be supported through these tough times. The availability of new mortgages from banks will be more rigorously monitored by Government, while there will be a three month moratorium on home repossessions, plus more free debt advice and more money for home insulation to cut fuel bills.”