A WHARFEDALE MP has slammed the Government for 'glaring omissions' in its new budget.

The scrapping of stamp duty for first-time buyers of properties worth up to £300,000 and £2.8 billion in extra funding for the NHS were part of last week's announcement.

But MP Alex Sobel (Lab, Leeds North West) said there had also been a failure to invest in key areas including education, housing, local councils and public sector pay.

In terns of what that will mean for the local authority responsible for his constituency, which includes Otley and Yeadon, he said: "Leeds City Council’s budget has been slashed and there is no change of direction indicated in this budget.

"In 2010 for every pound we paid in council tax the Government would invest £2, now the Government only invests 10p.

"That means less funding for social care, roads, bin collections, libraries, museums and children’s centres."

In education, an extra £40 million to train maths teachers was among Chancellor Philip Hammond's plans.

Mr Sobel said: “Forty million pounds extra for training maths teachers up and down the country is a welcome investment, but how are schools supposed to hire them after training when the Government keeps slashing the budgets of school?

"In my own constituency, the average reduction in primary school budgets is £51,000 and secondary schools will have seen an average reduction of £172,000 by 2020.

"This means a loss of at least one teacher per primary school and at least three per secondary school.

"The budget had no mention of reversing these cuts.

"It would seem the Conservatives are more than happy to continue their gutting of our children’s schools and educational services and to see teachers leaving the profession."

The MP did welcome new funding for electric charge points - part of a £450 million package to support electric cars - but said public transport also needed investment.

And he was pleased with changes designed to speed up the payment of Universal Credit, though he described it as 'just a start'.

He described £3 billion being set aside for Brexit contingency planning, however, as 'worrying'.

He concluded: "This budget will be defined by what is left out rather than what is in."