WYRE Forest Labour Group believes the budget has failed to address critical issues affecting residents in the district.

Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his budget on Wednesday with headline points including the scrapping stamp duty for first-time buyers for properties up to £300,000, rise on duty on tobacco and high-strength ‘white ciders’ and an extra £2.8bn to the NHS by 2020.

But Stephen Brown, of Wyre Forest Labour, said the budget failed to address a housing issues, problems with public transport, the cost of Brexit and the NHS crisis.

He said: “Once again it’s a case of the expectation of hope being defeated by the reality. The Tories had a chance to address the critical issues facing the country from everything on the economy, to Brexit, the NHS, Housing and Education. Once again they blew it.

On the housing crisis all they do is redirect money from taxation into developer’s pockets by scrapping stamp duty for first time buyers which will force up house prices - even the OBR says so.

“Wyre Forest has a housing crisis, we are crying out for more rented social housing to be built in what is a low wage area, with over 3000 on the waiting list, and we get this.

“The Tories offer nothing for hard pressed working families who can’t afford to buy a house and need a home to rent. It’s pathetic.

“Then we get £540million for driverless cars and yet our public transport system is creaking at the seams. Does anyone in the Tory Party ever use local trains or buses?

“Boris’s Leave campaign bus promised £350million a week for the NHS, instead £3billion is going to have to be spent on Brexit bureaucracy replacing institutions we already had via the EU.

“Sadly, the NHS suffers again. Yes it will get a single sum of £350million overall to ease winter pressures but that’s for the entire winter not for every week, and its way too little.

“Whilst the promised £2.8billion by 2020 is welcome it’s some £17billion less than needed according to the influential Kings Fund. It won’t even begin to address the issues. It’s £18million per week and falls well short of Leaver Boris’s NHS bus promise.

“This is not a budget designed to help working people. It won’t solve low pay, the housing crisis, the NHS crisis, or put a spring in anyone’s step who’s worried about rising bills and falling wages.

Meanwhile, bosses at cider maker Aston Manor – which has a plant in Stourport – said Mr Hammond’s ‘white cider’ duty rise plan had no merit.

A spokesman said: “White cider represents around 0.27 per cent of total alcohol and is in long-term decline.

“And whilst all products are capable of being misused, the vast majority of 'white cider' is enjoyed by people on low incomes without issue.

“Frontline professionals supporting people in crisis reject the targeting of specific products as it merely displaces misuse and might even make matters worse. We shared this independent research with the Treasury as part of the consultation process.

"We have just finished a record harvest and made the first payments to local growers on new orchards that will exceed £55m over the next 25 years and this action clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of the challenges we face.

"Our investment plans are measured in decades so we needed a sensible and long-term approach to duty and this is far from that."