Shropshire Chamber of Commerce responds to Budget speech
Shropshire Chamber of Commerce says there is ‘much to welcome, but much still missing’ from the Budget statement today.
As expected, the headline figure was a 2% cut in National Insurance, along with economic growth figures which were marginally better than expected. It was also announced that inflation is due to return to its 2% target in the coming months.
Ruth Ross, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber, said: “It’s good to see the Government investing and supporting in research and development in research and development, and advanced manufacturing in green technologies.
“Shropshire’s hospitality sector will also clearly welcome the continued freeze in alcohol duty, which will boost the pub trade.
“The 2% cut in National Insurance is welcome, but isn’t going to make a great deal of difference to the majority of people, who will find they are paying back much of it through taxation in other ways.
“With the National Minimum Wage going up and the income tax thresholds once again failing to rise with the rate of inflation, there is an element of smoke and mirrors about all of this.”
She added: “We appreciate that the Chancellor does not have a bottomless pit of funds for dramatic tax cuts in the current climate, but businesses are wrestling with many challenging issues right now, and want a clear vision.
“At a time when local councils are struggling, without enough money to even cover their legal requirements in many instances, there was nothing in the statement to imply extra help and support on the way.
“The tax relief changes for holiday lets could be of concern to Shropshire given the large proportion of leisure and retail lets we have here in the county.”
Ahead of today’s speech, Shropshire Chamber had joined the British Chambers of Commerce calling for the Government to:
- Match industry-led funding of £3 million for planning qualifications to help plug the lack of local resource.
- Commit to fund business led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) beyond the current 2025 cut off point to at least 2028.
- Restart the VAT registration review with a view to removing the existing cliff edge – the Chancellor has raised the threshold to £90,000.
- Reform business rates to make it a tax that incentives growth.
- Introduce a new internationally competitive tax-free shopping scheme.
Research from the BCC shows that nearly half of businesses with a turnover below £85,000 are concerned about growing revenue because of the requirement it would bring to start paying VAT.
And more than one in three companies say they are now paying more in business rates since the revaluation which took place last year.
