Most North East homes will get £100 towards energy bills and hundreds of high street firms will stop paying business rates, Mayor Kim McGuinness says.
Most households across the North East, including in Whitley Bay and the rest of North Tyneside, will receive £100 towards their energy bills, and hundreds of high street businesses in the region will no longer pay business rates, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said after today’s Budget.
The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority covers North Tyneside along with Newcastle, Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Northumberland and County Durham. In a statement issued by the authority this afternoon, the Mayor said the Budget also gives the region a new North East Good Growth Fund and new powers to keep tax raised from major developments, money she says will go on things that cut the cost of living, such as cheaper public transport fares.
What the Mayor says is in it
- Energy bills: the “vast majority of households in the region will receive £100 to go towards energy bills”.
- Business rates: “hundreds of our high street businesses will no longer pay business rates”.
- A North East Good Growth Fund: she says it will help deliver projects “like a new arena in Gateshead and film and TV studios in Sunderland”, and that “these will just be the start”.
- Keeping local tax: “new powers to keep tax raised from these major developments and others”, which she says will be used for initiatives “like cheaper fares on public transport in years to come”.
- Investment summit: the International Investment Summit will come to Gateshead in the spring, which she says will bring “thousands of investors from across the globe” to the region.
The statement does not say who qualifies for the £100, how it will be paid or when, nor which businesses will drop out of business rates. We will add those details when the Budget documents set them out.
What it means for you
If you live in Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, North Shields or Wallsend, the £100 is the part most likely to reach you directly, but the Mayor’s statement gives no date or eligibility rules yet.
The fares pledge is for “years to come”, not this winter: today’s Metro fares and times are unchanged, and our Whitley Bay Metro times page has the current service. Small businesses on Whitley Bay’s high streets should watch for the rules on which premises qualify for the business rates change. Community groups looking for help now can still bid to the Mayor’s existing Opportunity Fund for cost of living grants.
What the Mayor said
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said:
“After years of fighting for the investment we deserve, I’m delighted we now have a North East Good Growth Fund helping us to deliver projects like a new arena in Gateshead and film and TV studios in Sunderland and these will just be the start.
“We will also get new powers to keep tax raised from these major developments and others. It’s about time we stopped sending all of our tax to Westminster and instead use it right here in the North East. It’s good to see the Government agrees. This will be used for initiatives that directly cut the cost of living like cheaper fares on public transport in years to come.
“We need to see more good jobs in our region too. That’s why we insisted in September the International Investment Summit should be held in the North. And now thousands of investors from across the globe will see what we have to offer when they come to Gateshead in the Spring. We will make sure this directly leads to opportunities for people on their doorsteps across the whole of the North East.
“I’m delighted to see the vast majority of households in the region will receive £100 to go towards energy bills and hundreds of our high street businesses will no longer pay business rates.”
More on the authority’s work is on the North East MSA website.
Have your say