Retired people say 'nothing would incite them' to return to work after Chancellor's Budget plans

• ITV Wales' Rob Osborne explains how the 2023 Budget affects Wales and its people.

Retired people in Wales have said "nothing would incite them" to return to paid employment following the UK Chancellor's attempt to boost the workforce as part of his 2023 Budget announcement.

As part of his Spring Budget, Jeremy Hunt attempted to encourage people across the country to return to work in the hope that his raft of financial changes would make the UK "one of the most prosperous in the world" while also "harnessing British ingenuity to make us a science and tech superpower".

Opening his Budget statement on March 15, Hunt said the UK economy was "proving the doubters wrong" and with "stability and sound money" Britain will avoid a technical recession this year.

However, the move has been met with hostility from some older people across Wales.

Nicolas Stockdale from Wrexham started working before he left school. Now 66, he had a career in the power industry spanning 44 years, going on to work in Pakistan, USA and Cairo over the years.

"That's enough for anybody working. I'm 66 now and had a stroke two years ago. Nothing would incite me to go back to work. I might consider some voluntary work. In the past while I was working, I was a Chair of a local special needs school governor body and put a lot of energy and efforts into that.

"I think when I look back over my career and my life, I've done more than my fair share at it", Nicolas explained.

The spending decisions by the UK Government has triggered an increase in the Budget for the Welsh Government, which results in an extra £180m for Wales, in addition to its £23bn budget.

This amount is what the UK Government would have spent in Wales if there were no devolution.

Moreover, due to inflation, some argue this is still a reduction in overall spending power.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Chancellor was "dressing up stagnation as stability", claiming the Budget put the country "on a path of managed decline".

Others who spoke to ITV Wales, including retired nurse and wife of Nicolas, Diane Stockdale, echoed the view: "Not paid work, because I'd want flexibility. Voluntary work gives you a bit more flexibility and that's what I would need. But not paid work, no."

Another explained: "No, I don't think so. I get tired during the day, so I couldn't. I think it all depends on how fit you are really.

"Leave it for the young ones to have jobs, not us really."

• Retired people in Wrexham react after the UK Chancellor encouraged them to return to work.

What does the 2023 Budget mean for Wales?

Energy: The price cap has been extended for three months from April and will remain at £2,500. In addition, around 200,000 households in Wales will benefit from an end to higher charges for those on pre-payment gas and electricity meters.

Nuclear power: Hunt said that nuclear power will now be categorised as "environmentally sustainable" which will be controversial with those opposed to expanding sites like at Wylfa on Anglesey.

Childcare: This area is a devolved power in Wales, meaning it will be up to the Welsh Government to decide if it will change the staff-child ratio and follow suit in providing incentive payments to people becoming child minders.

In England, the Chancellor said he would gradually introduce 30 free hours a week for parents of children over nine months. Currently, free provision in both Wales and England is 30 hours a week for working parents of three or four year olds unless a parent earns more than £100,000 a year, although in Wales the offer is for 48 weeks of the year compared to 38 in England.

Taxes: A reduction in tax paid on draught beer and cider in pubs should also benefit pubs in Wales. It will see tax on supermarket booze at a higher level than that sold in pubs.

As well as an attempt to get people back to work who have since retired, Hunt, who took up the post in October 2022, also focused on free childcare, pensions reforms and more energy support for the year ahead.

The changes are hoped to encourage benefit claimants to move into work or increase their hours, in addition to childcare costs on Universal Credit being paid up front.

But it could result in a reality for most having to work longer or see Universal Credit harder to claim.

Although it's his first budget, this is Hunt's second fiscal statement, having had to make an Autumn statement last year to try to ease the financial markets after Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-budget last October.

The Office for Budget Responsibility's most recent forecast, in November 2022, predicted a dire economic outlook with the UK expected to enter recession this year and experience slower growth than expected. It projects inflation to have peaked but still to average 7.4% this year.

Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund has said the UK's economy is likely to perform the worst of any G7 nation in the coming year.

In response, the Welsh Government said the UK Chancellor's 2023 Budget announcement delivered a "less than bare minimum Budget".

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said the Spring Budget had fallen "well short of providing the support people need during the cost-of-living crisis", adding that the Chancellor made a series of deliberate choices to prioritise "petrol and potholes" over investment in public services, pay and economic growth.

Emphasising that that living standards are expected to fall by 6% between 2021-22 and 2023-24, the largest decrease since records began, Wales' Finance Minister explained: "It fell short of providing meaningful support - there were sticking plasters when we needed significant action.

"Critical public services which we all rely on continue to face devastating cuts – there was no extra funding for health, social services or local government. The decision to maintain the energy price guarantee for a further three months will provide some comfort for people in this ongoing cost-of-living crisis and is something we have been consistently calling for.

"We have also been calling on the UK Government to make Universal Credit fairer and for energy companies to stop penalising people on prepayment meters. We have seen small steps in the right direction in these areas."

She added: "The Chancellor today made some big and long-term commitments on childcare in England. We are already rolling-out a phased expansion of our childcare offer to two-year-olds as part of our Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.

"We will consider how best to use the consequentials from this announcement as a Cabinet, to best meet the needs of people in Wales. But we need to be really clear: this Budget does not go far enough in addressing the very real challenges people are facing.

"It was also disappointing to see the lack of specific investment in Wales. The Chancellor did not take advantage of the investment opportunities in rail, research and renewable energy. We will be carefully analysing the detail of the announcements made today and will be providing more information about what they mean for Wales in the coming days and weeks."

Following the announcement, Plaid Cymru Treasury Ben Lake MP said: "The extension of the Energy Price Guarantee to July will prevent a further increase to energy bills in April, but it is disappointing that the Chancellor failed to extend the Energy Bills Support Scheme or the Alternative Fuel Payments in today’s Budget.

"By opting for the status quo, the Chancellor has missed an opportunity to offer much needed support to off-grid households, and families that are already struggling with higher living costs.

"It is surprising that no commitment was made to ensuring fair pay increases for our public sector workers, and it is appalling that no mention was given in the Chancellor’s speech to improving digital connectivity. There needs to be significant and early investment digital connectivity and broadband infrastructure, transport links, renewable energy and research and development if we hope to realise Wales’ economic potential. The Chancellor’s silence on these issues today risks locking Wales into lower levels of development than wealthier areas of the UK.

"Plaid Cymru welcomes the belated funding for childcare in England, which must lead to full consequential funding to Wales. We are already on the front foot thanks to Plaid Cymru, with free childcare for two-year-olds extended through our Cooperation Agreement. The Labour government must now go faster and commit to using new funds to deliver Plaid Cymru's policy of universal childcare in full."