Devon and Cornwall tourism and farming leaders give mixed Budget verdict

Tourism, farming and business figures across Devon and Cornwall have given a mixed verdict on this week's Budget, welcoming help for households and small firms while warning about higher staff costs and limited support for agriculture.

Chancellor John Healey's first Budget, delivered on Wednesday, included a £100 payment to help millions of households with energy bills, a VAT cut on electricity bills and a freeze on fuel duty, with both extended to July. It also announced an elected mayor for Devon in 2028 and named Cornwall as the only area on a pathway to becoming a Foundation Strategic Authority.

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 the one-off "Household Energy Payment", funded by extra tax on banks.

Small firms: rates relief and wage costs

The Budget raised the threshold at which high street shops in England start paying business rates from £12,000 to £18,000, meaning no rates are due on properties with a rateable value below that level. Toby Parkins, interim chief executive of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said he expected about 900 extra businesses in Cornwall to benefit. "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", adding that "the last two have been a bit scary for business". She said there were no broad-based business tax rises and that fuel duty remains frozen until July, though the Budget "doesn't necessarily give us all the conditions we want for full growth".

Sue Jewell, chair of the South East Cornwall Tourism Association and a holiday accommodation provider, said the Budget "gave with one hand and took the other". The legal minimum wage is to rise by 3.9% in April, and Jewell said the increase may lead to some job losses. "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," she said.

Farming 'forgotten again'

James Kittow, from Butcher & Grazier in Cornwall, said there was no change to inheritance tax for farmers. Since April, inherited farming assets worth more than £2.5m face 20% inheritance tax. "It just seems like we've been forgotten again," he said. "We're an industry that is ready, willing and able to help the country produce the food for the nation." Wylde-Archibald said she did not think there was enough support for farming and food, which had "an impact on the rural economy".

Housing and first-time buyers

Andrea Drew, managing director at Lander Mortgage Services, said the key housing announcement was a scheme for first-time buyers and a "First Time Buyer Isa", in which savers build up a deposit with the government topping up contributions of up to £4,000 a year with a 25% bonus. She said one negative was the focus on new builds, because "not everybody wants to have a new build property", and pointed to a 4% increase in tax for landlords. She said she had seen landlords sell up while tenants could not afford to buy. "What tenants need is more homes to choose from, not fewer," she said.

Source: BBC Business.