IT WAS a privilege to be able to offer a breakfast briefing last Thursday morning on the measures in the budget affecting small businesses and it was a pleasure to see the session so well attended.

The political storm over the weekend has rather drowned out what was a budget with a lot of positive news for the kind of small businesses that are the lifeblood of the south Wiltshire economy.

In particular, I warmly welcome the Business Rates reforms in the budget – which provides help for businesses at all levels but particularly small businesses by permanently doubling small business rate relief and raising the threshold for full relief to £12,000.

At the same time, a further increase in the income tax threshold will take even more low paid and part-time workers out of tax altogether and ensure that people are keeping nearly £20 a week more of their pay than they were in 2010.

A lot of local businesses were hoping in advance of the budget that fuel duty would remain frozen and they got their wish – a valuable boost to businesses based in or primarily serving rural communities.

Supporting growth in the economy is at the heart of the budget because, without it, the country cannot generate the tax income it needs to put into our schools, hospitals and social mobility – aims that cannot exist in isolation.

The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has confirmed that there will now be no changes to disability benefit entitlement. This means the continuation of a massive net increase in the amount spent by government on supporting the disabled — £50bn per year on disability-related benefits, more over and above inflation, than the £42.6billion that was spent in 2010.

There were also announcements focused around helping savers, with the new lifetime ISA and opportunities for individuals to protect more of their hard earned investments. At the same time, the government stepped up action on corporate tax avoidance by ensuring that it will now be impossible for multi-national companies to offset profits generated in the UK against debt elsewhere in their global operation – something that Salisbury Christian Aid have been lobbying me on for some time.

Locally, the inclusion of a mention of changes to the funding formula for schools was very welcome. As the seventh worst-off county, Wiltshire stands to gain from a new funding formula that corrects anomalies and is fair to all of our excellent schools.

I remain mindful that when we came to office in 2010, we were borrowing £300,000 every minute – now that figure stands at £140,000 thanks to careful stewardship of the British economy, but this figure is still far too high and there is more work to be done.