MAYOR DAN JARVIS RESPONDS TO CHANCELLOR'S SPRING STATEMENT

Published 23 March 2022 at 3:28pm

In response to the Chancellor's Spring statement, Mayor of South Yorkshire Dan Jarvis MBE MP said:

“People across South Yorkshire are genuinely fearful for what the coming weeks and months will bring. Food, fuel, energy and travel costs all spiralling out of control. Compared to the national average, we have more people struggling to heat their homes, more businesses that are energy intensive, and more people not in the workforce.

“Some of the measures announced will help alleviate the pain but not for those in greatest need. People on lower incomes and the most vulnerable in society will be left wondering how they’re going to keep the lights on and put food on the table.

“The government hasn’t just failed to help our communities through the hardship of today, they’ve also failed to help South Yorkshire plan for tomorrow. We were hoping to be given clarity on our allocation of EU replacement cash – the UK Shared Prosperity Fund – but instead we got nothing.

“We’re witnessing the biggest fall in living standards since records began. The Chancellor has failed to respond to the scale of the challenge before us.”