Spending cuts and Budget 2011: your take

Are the spending cuts necessary? Was the Budget fair? Robert Powell hits the streets to find out.

Spending cuts and tax rises have been high in the public mind recently.

Last week saw the Chancellor George Osborne deliver a Budget that he claimed will spur on growth and help the economy recover from the deep cuts and rising taxes of last year’s spending review.

But this wasn’t good enough for the thousands who took to the streets on the weekend to protest against the government’s spending cuts – claiming that they will actually depress the economy and hit the poor hardest.

Are the spending cuts necessary?

The Conservative and Lib Dem coalition government is aiming to eliminate the structural deficit in the next four years by implementing £83 billion of spending cuts.

The Labour party claim that these cuts are being implemented too quickly and will stunt growth and force the country back into recession.

Last week’s Budget contained very few cuts – as a majority of them were announced by the Chancellor last October in the Spending Review.

But what George Osborne did reveal was a reduction in taxes for both workers and companies.

Is it right for the government to reduce taxes when so many cuts are taking place?

From April 2012 anyone earning less than £115,000 per year will see their personal allowance raised by £630. This means they’ll be able to earn £8,105 in a year before paying any income tax.

What’s more, corporation tax – the levy on company profits – will also be reduced by 2% this month.

Are you better off as a result of the Budget?

Most of the people I’ve spoken to today were unsure as to what impact the Budget would have on their finances.

But there were a few other announcements made by George Osborne that could affect you.

A new shared-equity scheme to help first-time buyers will provide an interest-free loan to help towards deposits.

Public money will also be used to help bring down high water rates in South-West England and Air Passenger Duty – the tax on air travel – will be frozen until next year.

But the big ‘rabbit-out-of-the-hat’ finale of this year’s Budget was the surprise cut of 1 penny per litre on fuel duty.

Is 1p a litre cut in fuel duty enough?

In fact, while fuel duty may have been cut this year – it will still rise in 2012 and 2013.

And the government are paying for this tax cut by levying an extra £2 billion of taxes on North Sea oil companies.

The cut in fuel duty may have triggered a few positive headlines but many are still dubious about whether the tax cut has actually materialised at the pump.

And this isn't the only government economic policy that people are sceptical about.

Yes, we all know that getting the country back on track will cause some pain – but will the ends ultimately justify the means? Only time will tell.

More: The Budget: Winners and losers | Four things George Osborne shouldn’t have ignored | Longer days, bank holidays and wedding days!