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Funding for town centreGreat news for our town as the Chancellor announces funding to support regeneration of Croydon town centre in the budget.

Croydon town centre is set to be transformed with Westfield and Hammerson redeveloping the Whitgift Centre and Stanhope and Schroders the Ruskin Square site next to East Croydon station, which has sat vacant for around 40 years. But for this to happen, the town’s infrastructure - in particular the road network, our public transport system and the power distribution system - needs to be massively upgraded. Croydon Council has developed plans to do this, but even with the contributions it is getting from developers it can’t fund them on its own. I’ve therefore being lobbying the Government and Mayor of London Boris Johnson for help to bridge the gap. On Wednesday, George Osborne and Boris announced that they would do just that. The Chancellor said: “London is the global capital of the world and we want it to grow

NEW SCHOOLS

On 9th March, the Prime Minister announced two new free schools in Croydon. One of them will be a secondary school for 11 to 18 year-olds run by Wallington County Grammar School, which is one of the top 50 schools in the country at A Level.

I’ve been working hard behind the scenes in support of this proposal and I’m thrilled it’s been given the go ahead. Many parents will be delighted to have a school here in Croydon with a grammar school ethos.

The other free school that I’ve been supporting is a Hindu ethos primary school run by the Avanti Schools Trust. This already runs four other schools, all of which have recently been rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted. It will have a Hindu ethos but will deliver an inclusive curriculum with a focus on literacy and numeracy. I’m sure it will be very popular both with the Indian community and others who will find its values and focus on reading, writing and mathematical skills very attractive.

stronger still. That is why we are investing in the Croydon Growth Zone, championed by Gavin Barwell. This will support delivery of over 4,000 homes and 10,000 jobs”. I’m grateful for his support and I hope that working with the Labour administration at the Town Hall we can build on this support in the next Parliament.

GAVIN BARWELLA st rong vo ice fo r Croydon

intouch BUDGET SPECIAL

GAVIN

BARWELL If you’re unsure how to vote on 7th May and you’d like to speak to me, you can contact me as follows:

020 8660 0491 gavin@backbarwell.com facebook.com/backbarwell

www.gavinbarwell.com twitter.com/backbarwell

March 2015

What’s in the budget for you and your family?

GAVIN BARWELL - A st rong vo ice fo r Croydon

BUDGET2015

There are more people in work than at any time in our history and the number of people claiming JobSeekers Allowance is at its lowest level since 1975 The minimum wage is increasing by more than inflation to ensure everyone benefits from the recovery. It will be more than £8 an hour by the end of the decade. After increasing every year since 2001, debt as a percentage of national wealth is finally falling. Because the Government’s finances are improving, the squeeze on Government spending will end a year earlier than planned - great news for those who work in or depend on public services. The levy on the banks is being increased. Now they’re doing better, it’s right to ask them to make a bigger contribution to sorting it out the mess they helped cause. Businesses won’t have to pay National Insurance contributions if they employ someone under the age of 21. That should make it easier for young people to find work. The personal allowance - the amount of money you can earn

before you have to start paying income tax - is being raised to £10,800. Under Labour, it was just over £6,500. As a result, 27 million people are nearly £900 a year better off and four million of the lowest paid people in our country no longer have to pay any income tax at all.

This year, the richest one per cent are paying 27% of all the money the Government is raising in income tax - higher than in any year under the last Labour Government. The poorest 50% are paying a smaller proportion than at any time under Labour. The fuel duty increase that the previous Labour Government had pencilled in for this September has been cancelled. Under this Government, petrol duty has been frozen for the longest period for over 20 years, saving families around £10 every time they fill up.

A new Help to Buy ISA for people saving to buy their first home. For every £4 you save for a deposit, the Government will give you £1. Personal savings allowance of £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and £500 for higher rate payers. As a result all but the richest five per cent of the population won’t pay any tax on their savings.

A helping hand for hard-working families