The South West reacts to Budget announcements

**The South West responds to Budget announcements**

Businesses across Devon and Cornwall said this week’s Budget brought a mix of benefits and drawbacks.

Tourism and hospitality figures have been giving their views on chancellor John Healey’s first Budget on Wednesday. Key measures included a £100 payment to help millions of households with energy bills, a VAT cut on electricity bills and a freeze on fuel duty, both extended to July.

The Budget also said Devon would get an elected mayor in 2028, while Cornwall was named as the only area on a route to become a Foundation Strategic Authority.

Sue Jewell, chair of the South East Cornwall Tourism Association and a holiday accommodation provider, said the Budget “gave with one hand and took with the other”.

As part of the Budget, the legal minimum wage is set to increase by 3.9% in April.

Jewell said: “I think it's tricky because actually I would believe that quite a lot of people in our business anyway pay over the minimum wage just to retain staff.

“However because of the cost we've cut back on staff.

“Which is sad really because it's local people who could be having local jobs.”

Dr Harry Pitts, senior lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus, said the £100 energy payment was one of the “small things to make life a little easier for some households in the immediate period”.

Anyone living in a home in council tax bands A to D in England will receive a one-off £100 “Household Energy Payment”, funded by extra tax on banks.

The Budget also announced that the threshold at which high street shops in England start paying business rates would rise from £12,000 to £18,000, meaning businesses would pay no rates on properties with a rateable value below that level.

Toby Parkins, interim ceo at the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said he expected this to help about 900 more businesses in Cornwall.

“For the small business that is a big win,” he said.

Helen Wylde-Archibald, from the Devon Chamber of Commerce, said she “welcomed some stability”.

“The last two have been a bit scary for business,” she said, referring to previous Budgets.

She added: “It doesn't necessarily give us all the conditions we want for full growth and strong growth, but the main thing was there was no broad base business tax rises and fuel duty remains frozen until July.”

She said she did not think there was enough in the way of announcements of more support for farming and food, and that this had “an impact on the rural economy”.

James Kittow, from Butcher & Grazier in Cornwall, said: “It just seems like we've been forgotten again.

“We're an industry that is ready, willing and able to help the country produce the food for the nation.”

He added that there was no change on inheritance tax for farmers. Since April, inherited farming assets worth more than £2.5m face 20% inheritance tax.

“I'm looking to plan for a succession... we want to keep farming, we want to keep doing what we love doing but if we're going to get hit on the other end of it then it does make you think twice about what is all this for, and it's just so sad for the future farmers that want to come into the trade,” he said.

Andrea Drew, managing director at Lander Mortgage Services, said the main housing announcement was a scheme for first-time buyers and a “First Time Buyer Isa”.

This is an account where savers can build up a deposit, with the government topping up contributions of up to £4,000 each year with a 25% bonus.

“The only negative I would say... on new builds, the housing market isn't just all about new builds, it's about existing property... because not everybody wants to have a new build property,” she said.

She added: “The other thing was about the increase in tax for landlords so, they're increasing the tax by 4%.”

She said she had seen landlords decide to sell their property because of the amount of tax, but tenants could not afford to buy the homes.

“What tenants need is more homes to choose from, not fewer, and they can't solve the housing shortage by destroying people who are providing the housing,” she said.