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Introduction

For the last 5 years this government has been working through a long-term economic plan to turn Britain around. That plan is working.

You can see it in the economic figures, with growth up, the deficit halved and new industries thriving.

But statistics don鈥檛 pay the bills and government graphs don鈥檛 buy school uniforms. Plans and policies only work if they actually help families.

That鈥檚 why my number 1 goal is to turn this long-term economic plan into a plan for you. I don鈥檛 just want people to hear about Britain鈥檚 economic success on the news or see it in the papers. I want them to feel it in their lives. And that is beginning to happen.

You can see it in your payslip 鈥� with taxes cut and wages rising, at the till 鈥� with inflation at a record low, at the pump 鈥� with fuel duty frozen and in your savings 鈥� with more control over your own money.

But for some families, those old questions still swirl around:

• Is my job safe?
• Can we afford to get by?
• Will we be able to buy a home?
• Can we afford childcare?
• Are our children going to have the skills they need?
• Will our earnings and our savings see us through?

It all comes back to security 鈥� that鈥檚 what matters to families more than anything. That鈥檚 why next week鈥檚 Budget is built for, designed around and centred on Britain鈥檚 families.

For the mum who is up and out the door before 6am. The dad who gets home from work when everyone is fast asleep. The children who are hoping for a holiday at the seaside this year. We want families like this to feel secure.

As you build a life together you want that life to feel solid 鈥� built to last. And for me there are 5 foundation stones that families鈥� security is built on: jobs, money, homes, schools and savings.

Let me take each in turn.

Jobs

The cornerstone of families鈥� security is work. Everything rests on whether parents are bringing home a pay packet.

Today there are 1.85 million more people in work than there were in 2010. That hasn鈥檛 just changed 1.85 million lives.

It鈥檚 changed the lives of all those children who see their mum or dad going off to work with pride each morning, and of all those parents who can sleep a little easier knowing they have a steady income coming in.

For every single day we鈥檝e been in office, 1,000 people have read those vital words: 鈥淥ffer of employment鈥�.

Of course, there are doubters.

They doubt that the jobs we鈥檙e creating are sufficient to support families but over the last year, three-quarters of new jobs were full time.

They doubt that they鈥檙e being created outside London but last year jobs were created fastest not in the South East but the North East.

They doubt that they鈥檙e decent jobs, but jobs are being created in industries of the future 鈥� with 1 million roles being advertised last year in the digital technology sector alone.

They doubt all this will help young people but in the last year we had a bigger rise in youth employment than the rest of the EU combined.

The doubters are wrong; our plan is right 鈥� and it鈥檚 giving families the security they need.

After 5 years, we have seen more people in work than at any point in British history.

So our ambitions for the future are unashamedly high. We won鈥檛 just go for more employment; we鈥檒l go for full employment: a job for everyone who wants one.

And there鈥檚 only one genuine way to do that. It鈥檚 the same way we helped create all these jobs.

And that鈥檚 by backing business helping them to grow, expand, take on new staff 鈥� and yes, take on apprentices. We鈥檝e already created 2 million [Political content removed].

Why will we do all this? Because businesses create jobs and a job is the first 鈥� and the most important 鈥� foundation stone in building a family鈥檚 security.

Money

The second foundation stone for families鈥� security is having more money in their pockets.

For too long, family budgets seemed to be under attack from every angle.

Parents felt hammered at the till, ripped off at the petrol pump and clobbered by the taxman.

The gas, water and electric; the car insurance and home insurance the road tax, council tax, phone bill, food bill, mortgage. It felt like an endless assault on family finances 鈥� and families were left with a feeling we all dread: insecurity.

Our goal in government is to ease that burden so families don鈥檛 just get by in life; they can get on in life 鈥� and do all the things they want to do.

That starts with something simple: keeping more of the money you earn.

Thanks to our income tax cuts, there are 26 million people saving an average of 拢825 a year in tax from April.

Think about that: parents with potentially an extra 拢1,600 in the kitty looking to the summer and thinking 鈥測es, we can book that holiday鈥�, or looking to Christmas without the same fear of the cost.

Then there鈥檚 the fuel duty freeze 鈥� saving the average motorist at least 拢135 a year. The married tax allowance 鈥� saving couples up to 拢212 a year. The fact that wages are rising and inflation is low.

All this has happened because of the difficult decisions we鈥檝e taken on our economy.

One of families鈥� biggest outgoings 鈥� and therefore biggest worries 鈥� is the cost of childcare.

Most spend, on average, over a quarter of their income on childcare. That鈥檚 right 鈥� more than a quarter of what they鈥檝e got coming in going straight back out. This is not just an issue for women or parents. It鈥檚 a national issue.

So we鈥檝e acted, increasing the number of free childcare hours for 3- and 4-year-olds, introducing 15 free hours for the 40% most disadvantaged 2-year-olds and in the next Parliament perhaps the most transformative change to childcare in decades 鈥� making it tax free, saving up to 拢2,000 per child, per year.

More money in parents鈥� pockets. Less worry for families. That鈥檚 what our long-term economic plan is delivering 鈥� security for all.

Homes

The third foundation stone is a home of your own.

Your home is the ultimate symbol of security. It鈥檚 a place of stability, protecting your family 鈥� a place to feel safe, to make memories together. Too many people have been denied that security.

I think of all the people in their 20s and 30s still living with their parents, desperately saving for their own place, the couple who want a child but can鈥檛 afford to upsize, the families stuck in the renting rut, never able to properly settle down.

We鈥檙e turning this around, meeting every barrier to home ownership with a solution.

Problem 1 was that mortgage rates were high. By cutting the deficit, we鈥檙e keeping them low.

If you compare what people are paying now to what they would have paid with interest rates at 2010 levels, they are saving 拢155 a month.

Problem 2 is that many could afford mortgage repayments but not the initial deposit.

That pushed up the average age of a first-time buyer, without parents鈥� help, to 37 鈥� an absolute scandal in this, the country of the property-owning democracy.

So we brought in Help to Buy 鈥� to help with those deposits. And thanks to that scheme, 88,000 more people have crossed the threshold of their home 鈥� 88,000 people who have bricks and mortar to call their own.

Problem 3 was that there weren鈥檛 enough homes for people to buy.

House building fell every decade after the 60s and after the great recession, the tumbleweed rolled across deserted building sites.

So we鈥檝e released more government land and we鈥檙e lending money to get builders building. We鈥檝e reformed planning to make it easier to get permission and in the last year alone, work was started on 140,000 new homes.

And we will go further with 2 new garden cities 鈥� in Ebbsfleet and Bicester and with 200,000 Starter Homes 鈥� discounted new-builds for first-time buyers under 40, so more children have a bedroom to call their own, more parents can finally decorate their living room as they want it and more families have stability and security 鈥� a place to make memories and build their lives together.

Schools

The fourth foundation stone may be the most crucial for families 鈥� and that鈥檚 education.

The schools they go to, the skills they get 鈥� they鈥檙e your child鈥檚 ticket to success.

In the past, our education system has failed too many children. We are turning that around.

We鈥檝e spent 拢5 billion on new school places. We鈥檝e got discipline back in the classroom. We鈥檝e got high standards back on the curriculum. We are making sure more pupils take traditional, academic subjects.

But the biggest change we鈥檝e made 鈥� something that is radically changing the way education is delivered 鈥� is opening 4,200 academies and 255 free schools.

Sponsored academies are failing schools taken over by independent sponsors 鈥� many of them successful academy chains, like Harris, with a track record of turning schools around.

Converter academies are successful schools that have chosen to benefit from the freedom from local authority control, taking full control of their budget and making the decisions that matter.

Free Schools are brand new schools, set up by groups of parents, or charities, or teachers, or bodies, including other schools, that have a passion for delivering great education.

All of them are creating more good school places for our children. What these schools have achieved is, frankly, remarkable. They鈥檙e more likely to be good or outstanding.

In fact, free schools are twice as likely to be judged 鈥榦utstanding鈥� as other schools inspected at the same time. And, remember, they鈥檝e only been going for a couple of years at most.

As Policy Exchange said this week, free schools don鈥檛 just raise the performance of their own pupils 鈥� they raise standards in surrounding schools in the area too.

Academies are more likely to improve their results at GCSE.

And today, 1 million more children across the country are in schools that the inspectors 鈥� Ofsted 鈥� say are 鈥済ood鈥� or 鈥渙utstanding鈥�.

We鈥檙e declaring war on illiteracy and innumeracy too, so no child leaves school unable to read or write.

We鈥檙e going to make Britain 鈥� the country of Alan Turing, of Stephen Hawking 鈥� the best place in the world to learn maths, science and computing.

And yes 鈥� we鈥檙e going to dramatically expand the free schools programme.

Today I鈥檓 announcing 49 new ones.

New schools like:

• the Boxing Academy in Hackney 鈥� based on discipline and teamwork
• the Green School for Boys here in Isleworth 鈥� part of the same trust as this brilliant girls鈥� school
• Floreat Education鈥檚 latest schools in Southall and Alperton in London 鈥� which focus on character as well as academia

We鈥檝e got Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jewish ethos schools opening up schools that extend the school day, schools that will benefit from the expertise of Sunderland FC and Microsoft schools that cater for those with special needs, armed forces families, children who have been excluded.

They鈥檙e going to provide thousands of good school places for children the length and breadth of the country.

And they鈥檙e all part of this 鈥� the most successful schools programme in recent British history.

Savings

The fifth and final foundation for families鈥� security is this: savings.

Everyone who pays into a savings account, who pays into a pension, who goes to the bank to top up their ISA, is doing it for the same reason: security.

So if they hit hard times, they鈥檝e got something to fall back on, so when they get older, they鈥檝e got something extra to get by on.

For too long, we鈥檝e had a system that punished that prudence.

People would be unfairly taxed for drawing down their private pension. Their pension pot would be taxed far too much when they died. That was completely wrong.

So we are introducing a new culture of saving. Over-55s will have access to their pension pots 4 weeks from today.

The punitive tax on passing your pension on 鈥� it鈥檚 gone.

It鈥檚 easier to switch bank accounts to get a better rate. You can put not just 拢5,000 a year in a cash ISA but 拢15,000. And our are yielding a rate of 4 per cent.

All this is sending out the clearest message to families: If you鈥檙e thinking of your future security 鈥� we鈥檙e right behind you.

Conclusion

My motto in life is 鈥渇amily first鈥�. I apply it to my own life and to my politics.

At their best, families are resilient 鈥� tight-knit units which can weather anything. And if you doubt it, just think of what your family has gone through over the years and how you鈥檝e come through it together.

But at the same time families are vulnerable 鈥� vulnerable to shocks, vulnerable to financial pressure. Job losses or money worries can tear them apart.

I believe financial security for families is one of government鈥檚 foremost duties.

It鈥檚 what I鈥檓 in politics to deliver 鈥� a better life for you and your children. Every time I champion an economic success, it鈥檚 because it鈥檚 been a success for families.

When I celebrate the reopening of a brick factory, it鈥檚 not because I love bricks: it鈥檚 because I love to see all those staff doing their jobs with pride, knowing they鈥檙e going home to their families with a wage.

Every time I celebrate the opening of a free school, it鈥檚 not because I love cutting ribbons or taking selfies with the students 鈥� it鈥檚 because I鈥檓 so glad, so relieved that more parents can, like me, share the peace of mind you feel when your child is getting a great education.

Every single part of this has only been possible because we got a grip on our economy.

If we hadn鈥檛 got our finances in order there would have been no tax cuts, no new school places, no help for savers, no Help to Buy 鈥� no record job creation.

In other words, families鈥� security is dependent on a strong economy. Say goodbye to economic stability 鈥� and you say goodbye to your family鈥檚 security.

That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 more important than ever to stick to our long-term economic plan.

That鈥檚 what next week鈥檚 Budget is all about.

And that鈥檚 what I am determined to deliver.