Mr Alex Scaunell, unemployed, married with four children Pre Budget concerns: There should be social welfare increases of 10 per cent across the board to bring benefits into line with the Commission on Social Welfare, and substantial improvements in child benefit, which should be taxed so that poorer people benefit more. The Government should remove the traps in the current system, encouraging people back to work instead of penalising them.
Instant reaction: I am underwhelmed by this Budget. I'm not surprised, and I'm not disappointed because I wasn't expecting much, and I didn't get much.
They're playing with the figures - social welfare increases' of double the rate of inflation sounds like a lot, but that means 4 per cent, which is not a lot, and very little in terms of cash in the pocket.
The child benefit is up at least, not by much, and they should tax it of course, but it's still good.
The tax free allowances are up for both single people and for married couples, but I didn't hear him mention any rise in the allowances for children, so I have to presume there are none. That's bad.
I don't see much in terms of schemes to get people working. They've decided to increase the numbers on the Back to Work Allowance scheme... I'm not familiar with that one, and I'm not even sure if it's fully subscribed as it is, so I doubt that will have much impact.