Tory Austerity Lite's Still Failing Us: Autumn Budget 2017 Thoughts from 4 Voters in Lincoln:

As I've done several times before in this blog, I thought it'd be interesting to examine and
scrutinise the Autumn Budget 2017 policy measures with a group of 4 voters from Lincoln. 2 of them (Voters A and D) fall into the still much cited category of "JAMs" -the Just About Managing voters (who are described as barely affording to pay essential bills but still have enough  disposable income to afford a few treats in the year) whilst 2 of them (Voters B and C) can be described as more comfortably well off.

The voters have different political affiliations and voted differently on Brexit in June 2016.

1. Administrative Assistant at an Accountancy Practice. Labour voter who voted to Leave the EU.
2.  Owner of a logistics firm. Conservative voter who voted to Leave the EU.
3. Sales and Marketing Manager at a local firm. Labour voter who voted to Remain in the EU.
4. Charity Shop Worker. Lib Dem voter who voted to Remain in the EU.

Here's a few summary points from the discussion (for those who don't have time to read the whole table):

• Most of the voters were happy with announcements on Maths and Science teaching, the prospect of a 26-30 discounted railcard  and appreciated the freeze on Fuel Duty and Alcohol Duties (except for white ciders). 
• Most of the voters believe the abolishing of the Stamp Duty will help some first-time buyers but there needs to be more support for private renters.
• Voters A, C and D thought that there should be an increase in the Council Tax Premium levied on empty home owners in Lincoln.
• There was some concern shown as to whether some of the funding increases/ allocations announced would actually benefit Lincoln residents in the long-term especially housing funding. More detail needs to be offered by the City of Lincoln Council and Lincolnshire County Council on this as they begin to assess what the Budget will mean for Lincoln and Lincolnshire.
• Voters A and C thought that investments in R&D were too high and that some of the money should be diverted to help sustain frontline public services instead (Schools and Hospitals in particular).
• Voters noticed the absence of funding allocated to Social Care and Policing and attributed that to Brexit.
• Voters expressed dismay at the lower than expected increase in the National Living Wage for the over 25s but were fairly pleased with the planned increase in the Personal Allowance.
• Voters A, C and D were highly critical of the Universal Credit announcements and want to see the Government pause the roll-out until issues are addressed.
• Voters A, C and D are worried about potentially leaving the EU without a free trade deal.
• Voter intentions seem to remain unchanged although Voter C did state they were undecided at the moment because of how Labour are handling the Brexit negotiations.

Here's the results below:

Autumn Budget Proposal	Voter A:	Voter B:	Voter C:	Voter D:
£3bn to help the UK prepare for Brexit over the next 2 years in addition to the £700m already invested.	I'm not sure £3bn is going to be enough to help us weather any economic storm following a Hard Brexit. It's disappointing that the Government are still talking about the prospect of a No Deal; surely it's better to compromise and secure a free trade deal by offering the EU a decent financial settlement than walk off with nothing.	The Chancellor is well within his rights to put money aside in the event that Brexit negotiations break down but I think he's being a bit too hasty. However, if we left the EU without a deal, any short term economic pain will be offset massively by free trade deals negotiated outside the EU. I'm sick and tired of people talking British businesses and the Government down. There's no evidence to suggest there would be a great recession. Remoaners need to get on board with the program now.	£3bn will not be anywhere near enough to help us if we end up leaving the EU without having secured a trade deal. It won't even cover potential extra NHS running costs let alone help people with huge inflation rises. Hammond hasn't even said what he'd spend the money on in terms of Brexit preparation. If we weren't leaving the EU our economy would have probably grown even more and we'd have more money to fund Social Care and Policing, which weren't even mentioned in this Budget!	I understand why Mr Hammond feels the need to squirrel away money for a potential short-term economic crisis following a Hard Brexit but I don't believe it'll come to that. The EU wants to trade with us and they may be willing to compromise to secure that trade deal. Then maybe most of the money can be spent on giving nurses a pay rise or funding Mental Health services in Lincolnshire.
Tax free Personal Allowance Income tax threshold rise from £11,500 to £11,850 from April 2018.	I'm afraid that the Personal Allowance increase isn't going to help young people very much, let alone families. What's going to happen if prices keep rising? It's costing me more money to buy the kids Christmas presents this year. I doubt Mr Hammond has to worry about budgeting for them!	Excellent proposal announcement by Mr Hammond that's going to help Just-About-Managing families across Lincoln. You wouldn't get such a policy measure from McDonnell!	It's a good start I guess but I'd have liked to have seen the allowance increase to £12,000. Maybe next year?!	Wow! Another rise in the Person Allowance will help me save money towards a deposit on my first house, so that's good news!
National Living Wage rise of £0.32 from April 2018.	I'm disappointed by the pitiful rise in the NLW this year. It's not going to be enough to help young people save for a house and my son, who's an Apprentice is only getting an extra 20p an hour.  Why can't young people under the age of 25 and Apprentices be paid the same amount as me or my peers?	I think £0.32 rise was satisfactory. I can't believe those under 25 are still moaning about not being paid the same as those over the age of 25. How do they think small businesses can stay afloat if they start paying the NLW to all employees? As for paying everyone the Living Wage (£8.75) that's a farcical notion!	£7.83 an hour is still a small amount really for working in care homes or doing the cleaning in offices. You hear of people on benefits turning down work because the employer or agency can't pay them more than the NLW. With Brexit happening and people leaving the country, how are businesses going to get the staff to replace them? They're going to have to raise the NLW to a decent amount....why not pay everyone who's not an Apprentice £8.75 an hour?	I know some SMEs would struggle to pay an extra £1.75 an hour to pay the Living Wage but maybe an extra 50p an hour would have been a better offer so workers can prepare for possible food and clothing inflation and still afford to pay the rent.
Abolish Stamp Duty on all homes under £300,000 for first-time buyers	This is all well and good for young people who have managed to club  together the money for a deposit and mortgage but those of us who already have a property and want to move will still have to pay the Stamp Duty. As for private renters, there was little in the Budget to help them. Shame!	I think this is a well thought-through policy that'll help my children get onto the property ladder. Young people should aspire to own a home of their own and the Conservatives are the ones to help them achieve their dreams.	The Tories have once again missed the mark. What happens if demand for homes in Lincoln increases and that pushes up house prices? Those who are looking to move homes rather than buy their first one may end up paying more for the house. That's no good. Plus there's no mention of council housing in this Budget; the Government needs to look after vulnerable people and not just rich people.	This policy announcement couldn't have come at a better time! I'm excited to buy my first house with my boyfriend and the money saved on the Stamp Duty could go towards paying Estate Agent fees or to buy new furniture. First-time buyers needed an extra incentive to purchase and this was it.
£44bn in capital loans to help build 300,000 homes being built by mid 2020s.	We do need to build more homes so that everyone can have a suitable place to live, including people on Housing Benefit. I don't believe the Tories will build 300,000 homes a year and even if they did, most of them would be for people to buy. We need more council houses now, not in the future.	With the massive influx of people from Eastern Europe over the past 13 years, we have ended up in a position where we now have a housing shortage. The loans need to be taken out to build the extra housing but I hope that there aren't many more developments in Lincolnshire. We need to protect our countryside from being over-developed I think.	Housing's a big issue in Lincoln. I know families who are desperate to find an affordable home to rent and it's good that Lincoln City Council are investing in house building on waste land already. I don't know how much of the funding Lincolnshire will get for house-building and I'm not convinced the Tories will ever be able to help build 300,000 homes a year. They never seem to meet their targets on anything else!	More housing in the Lincoln area which would be affordable (and not just to satisfy an increase in students) would be greatly appreciated . I hope Lincolnshire will get some of the capital loan funding but we won't know any details until next year I guess.
Ability for councils to 100% premium council tax on empty homes	I think it's right that the City of Lincoln Council should be allowed to charge a 100% premium on empty homes. There may not be many here but the extra money can help fund bin collections.	I don't really understand why this policy is needed. If a council can already charge a 50% premium, is it that fair to double it just because the home being held for investment purposes?	Homes should only ever be empty for a few months of the year. They need to be maintained properly. If some home owners only buy a property for investment reasons, they should be forced to sell within a year or two. It's like people who buy land for development and they never use it. The Government needs to stop that from happening.	This is a fair measure that should bring in some extra money in Lincoln but I'm guessing the areas which will benefit the most will be in London.
£40m to train Maths teachers and £600 Maths Premium for schools, for every pupil taking A-Level or Core Maths.	It's alright encouraging more young people to take Maths A-Level but not everyone is going to be a Maths genius and we shouldn't neglect the importance of Arts subjects, including English. Let's stop stifling creativity in schools. Where's the extra money for art materials or musical instruments? We need an Arts Pupil Premium.	Maths gives people the core skills they need to be savvy business entrepreneurs. Those who study Maths will earn more in their working lives. Why should they be told to take fluffy subjects Media Studies or Drama when all it teaches them is how to draft a newspaper article or how to use a different accent. Those skills aren't useful in today's competitive jobs market.	While I appreciate the need for more people to be good at Maths, I don't understand how learning geometry or formulas would help me in my job. I guess there are vacancies in engineering but not every young person wants to go into engineering. I agree with Voter A. We need more money for creative subjects to help with social skills and verbal communication.	I can understand the Government's decision to invest in Maths. Engineering firms are struggling to hire young people with the right skills in Lincolnshire and getting schools to encourage more of them to study A-Level Maths and Engineering is important.
8,000 extra Computer Science teachers so there is 1 qualified teacher in every UK secondary school	I guess we all need to be competent at using computers in the workplace so this is a good policy measure.	Young people need to know how to code, how to use computer software packages beyond MS Office. This was a no-brainer policy move.	I never studied ICT beyond Year 9 in school and it never did me any harm in the workplace. I guess coding would be a good skill to learn but I don't think every child should be forced into putting all their effort into Sciencey or Techie subjects.	It's important to have qualified subject teachers in schools and Computer Science should be no exception. Coding skills, formatting skills and graphics skills are all utilised by marketing people in small businesses.
£20m to support introduction of T-Levels in Further Education Colleges	I didn't know what a T-Level was until my friend explained it to me. I think it's good to recognise vocational skills in hairdressing or accounting.	Another great policy decision by the Conservatives. Who said they weren't the party of Education?	As long as the T-Level isn't just another rebranding exercise, this will be good for young people. Colleges need more funding though so they can continue running A-Levels and short-courses and employing good lecturers.	£20m doesn't sound very much for FE colleges but it's only to get the T-Level courses organised. Maybe some of the money will be spent on hiring more teaching staff...I don't know really.
£30m in Digital Skills distance learning courses as part of a National Retraining Scheme (run by the CBI and TUC in partnership with the Government)	I wonder how many people in Lincoln will benefit from this scheme in the future. If it's not advertised or promoted well enough, not many.	A National Retraining Scheme is a great concept and will help older workers learn the digital skills they need to gain good jobs.	I thought the ECDL qualification was meant to help people learn digital skills. Why not fund that instead of designing yet another course and put the money into other projects?	This is a great idea. Nobody should be left on the scrapheap as a result of changes in technology. It's just going to take a lot of marketing of the Scheme and encouraging people to see it as useful.
Fuel Duty rise cancelled again.	Good news but the cost of car insurance will probably offset any benefits from this and if petrol prices rise, I may start taking the bus to work.	I don't drive currently so the measure won't affect me. I know my friends are quite pleased they won't be paying more for petrol. I read in the Sun ASDA reduced the cost of petrol by 2p after the announcement so maybe prices will reduce across the board.	The Tories are frightened of raising the Fuel Duty because rural voters may be more tempted to abstain from voting or voting for another party in protest. We need more money to fund our public services and part of that extra funding could come from a small rise in Fuel Duty.	I'm glad that the Fuel Duty rise has been cancelled! The money saved I can put towards food and clothing.
Duty on wines, spirits, beer and most ciders has been frozen but "white cider" duty will increase.	As a wine and spirits drinker, I'm happy that the price won't be going up as the result of Government duties.	Cheers! The freeze on alcohol duty should benefit our local pubs.	I don't drink that much but nobody's going to be that unhappy about a duty freeze on alcohol.	My brother drinks white ciders so he's a bit miffed he'll be paying more. I'm glad there isn't going to be an increase on wines but I'll be paying more for my cigarettes.
£2.3bn extra for research and development (Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering).	The government wants to support science and technology so I guess this isn't much of a surprise. Whether it should be used to build electric cars or in AI is up for debate. I think the investment amount is too high when schools and hospitals need more funding now.	Britain has always been an innovative country so I'm pleased more money will be used to support projects.	Where's the extra funding for Primary Schools in Lincoln? Where's the extra funding for SEN support staff for pupils with learning difficulties? What about funding for Arts based R&D? We don't need to fund electric cars when people are shivvering cold on our streets and in their homes. The Government has got its priorities wrong yet again.	£2.3 billion seems a huge amount to waste on “happy go lucky” science projects. We need more investment in apprenticeships and internships to make them more accessible to working class kids. We need to spend more money on improving IT skills for working class employees too!
£385m investment in digital infrastructure. (5G mobile networks and Superfast Broadband).	Digital infrastructure programme do need to be encouraged but was giving 100% business tax relief to digital firms for fibre cabling the way forward? It seems Hammond and May want to appease big business rather than improve the lives of working class Millennials in the countryside. Will the initiatives  be completed by 2020? I'm not convinced.	Digital coverage needs to be vastly improved in Lincolnshire. I need to be able to process orders regularly throughout the day and that means having continuous internet connectivity pretty much 24/7. I doubt McDonnell would have invested in 5G....Labour doesn't seem to have a technology plan....not a workable one anyways.	I can't see why more money needs to be pumped into internet coverage in the countryside. So much has been given already....why can't the telecoms companies stump up more cash?	Great news. I hope Labour supports the funding decision because digital coverage needs to improve in rural areas. It doesn't just help farms and rural based SMEs to connect with their customers faster and more securely but will also allow rural people access to better streaming of films and to listen to podcasts.
£1.5bn to help rectify Universal Credit concerns, 2 weeks of extra Housing Benefit for new UC claimants and access to a 100% advance UC payment within 5 days of applying for UC.	Hammond should have listened to concerns and paused the UC roll-out. Vulnerable people are at risk waiting for the money to come through and an advance needs to be paid back. Now they'll be a 100% advance available next year means that people will need to pay 1 month's worth of money back within a year. If they're not working, how will they do that?	The benefits system needed to be reformed and the Government have been taking action to reform it. If people aren't happy about UC, they should get up in the morning and look for full-time work. Extra Housing Benefit payments will help most people stay in their homes whilst their claim's being processed. The UC benefit is too generous already but the Government wants to please skeptics and have caved in.	It's just not enough money. The Government won't help disabled people or homeless people with such small changes. I want to see the UC scrapped and the Government apologise for wasting money on it.	I think the UC system is a good idea in theory but more work needs to be done to plan its roll-out. Housing Benefit should be covered for the whole period so people are not threatened with eviction. Advance payments are OK in 12 months to pay back if you're working or find work but what if you'll never be able to work? The Government hasn't thought it through enough.
26-30 Railcard Scheme saving a 1/3 on rail fares from Spring 2018.	This is good news for 26-30 year olds who use the train to get to work but I guess that's not many people. We need to reduce rail fares for everyone. What's the Government doing to facilitate that?	I'm not really fussed by this policy and it's just a gimmick to get more young people to vote Conservative.	Rail fares are too high for everyone without a discount railcard because the railways are in the hands of private companies who just want to make more and more profit. Labour would work to renationalise the railways and encourage companies to reduce rail fares quickly following the next election.	I use the rail card at the moment to get to work so the extension will benefit me directly but very few of my friends travel by train to get to work.
£2.8bn to fund the NHS in England over the next 3 years including £338m to help NHS trusts cope this winter	Our NHS needs funding to ensure essential frontline services can be maintained. They asked for £4bn and only got £2.8bn. Where was the money to give our amazing nurses a pay-rise? They did it for prison and police officers!	We can't keep throwing money at NHS managers without expecting them to make their NHS Trusts more efficient. Where's most of the money going? They need to stop paying agency staff and focus on recruiting more permanent staff and if they can't do that then maybe they're in the wrong job.	It seems like the NHS has been given the bare minimum funding it needs to operate. This Government has no idea how to plan for the future of schools or hospitals (only Brexit). There was no money for Social Care either. I thought there would be at least a cap on care costs.	I don't think enough money has been given to the NHS for them to cope with demand. I'm worried that waiting times will increase. My GP surgery's already struggling. I can understand why nurses are upset about not receiving a pay rise. My friend has had to use a food bank just a week once. It was a humiliating experience for her.
Best Policy	Funding for Maths and Computer Science Teachers	Freeze on Fuel Duty	Funding for Maths and Computer Science Teachers	Funding for Maths and Computer Science Teachers
Worst Policy(set of policies)	Universal Credit	Council Tax Premium increase on empty homes	Brexit funding	Universal Credit
Voting Intention as of 27/11/2017	Labour	Conservatives	Undecided	Lib-Dem