BREATHING space for today, fresh hope for the future.

The test I applied to the Chancellor's Budget this year was simple: did it deliver for us in St Austell and Newquay - in the home and on the high street?

The Budget delivered by John Healey last week eases the pressures families are facing with the cost of living, supports the growth of our local small businesses and gives Cornwall a stronger investment case to prosper in the years ahead.

As we head into the cold winter months, our government is going further to support families with rising energy bills. Hundreds of households in across St Austell and Newquay will benefit from the new £100 Household Energy Payment from January 2027 from council bands A-D.

This intervention sits alongside the universal extension of the 0% VAT rate on electricity supplies and the abolition of gas standing charges, helping to lower bills and provide greater certainty for households. I also know many of my constituents will be relying on heating oil to heat their homes, which is why the suspension of import tariffs until 2028, as well as local authorities' crisis payments for those who need support with their bills, should also help ease pressure on household budgets.

We are also supporting our farmers with rising costs, extending the 3.7p per litre reduction in red diesel duty for a further six months until 1 July 2027 to keep the cost of running tractors and agricultural machinery down. Alongside this, the suspension of import tariffs on fertilisers until December 2027 will improve security of supply and help reduce costs for farmers already facing significant pressure on their margins.

On our high streets, I recognise the rise in online retailers has made life increasingly difficult for the key bricks-and-mortar businesses that bring life to our towns. At the same time, I know – from speaking with small businesses, for instance, in Mevagissey – that business rates have placed a compounding burden on these very businesses that bring the footfall that the character to our town centres is crying out for.

In the Budget, John Healey announced businesses that sit within the £12,000 to £18,000 rateable value bracket will be taken out of the business rates system altogether, precisely, I suspect, because so many of the businesses that sit in that bracket are the ones at the heart of our high streets. For those with a rateable value of up to £21,000, there will be some additional relief.

And, on top of all of that, for any retail, leisure and hospitality business that is not eligible for full exemption, business rates will be frozen for the next two years. I know there is much more to do to give our high streets the pride of place they deserve. But by targeting these measures at businesses within these brackets, alongside strengthening VAT compliance for online marketplaces, we start to tip the balance back away from the online giants and give back more power to our high streets.

In addition to last week's welcome news on parking charges, motorists and commuters will also benefit at the pump from this budget, with the extension of the 5p fuel duty cut for 6 months.

There is also good news for people who rely on their vehicles for work, as our government has now made the 55p tax-free mileage allowance for the first 10,000 business miles permanent.

By no means is any Budget perfect, and there will always be decisions people disagree with. However, taken as a whole, this Budget is easing pressures on households and backing small businesses to lay the foundations for economic growth for Cornwall.