South Yorkshire businesses: Budget must be 'clever, creative and compassionate'
The Chancellor will lay out his financial plans later
Last updated 3rd Mar 2021
South Yorkshire businesses are urging the Chancellor not to make them "foot the bill" for the support they've had so far during the pandemic.
Rishi Sunak will outline his financial plans for the next year in his 2021 Budget later.
He faces a difficult balance - trying to deal with a huge black hole in the public finances caused by pandemic spending while also supporting people and businesses through the rest of the crisis.
We already know the furlough scheme will being extended until September, with people paid 80% of their wages and employers asked to make a small contribution from the end of July.
There'll also more support announced for self-employed people and other business help could be extended too .
But there could be a rise in some taxes including a freeze in the thresholds at which people start paying income tax.
And corporation tax could be going up too.
Andrew Deniff, from Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, says it'll take many businesses a while to recover:
"The last thing we want him to do is go back to those businesses who he has been supporting over the past few months in effect to ask them to foot the bill. That will serve no purpose whatsover and could well tip the balance over for a lot of businesses who have been doing their upmost just to survive.
"He needs to be clever, he needs to be creative, but more than anything I think he needs to be compassionate with this Budget as well. I think he needs to understand the huge pressures businesses have been under and that it is simply not going to end in the next few weeks
"The vast majority of businesses have done what the government has asked of them over the past few months. Now is not the time to kick them whilst they're down."
The Chancellor's also being urged to be innovative in bringing life back to South Yorkshire's high streets when he gets to his feet in the Commons later.
With non-essential shops hoping to reopen next month, there are worries the move towards online retail may leave some businesses struggling.
Keith Cowans owns a new independent book shop in Barnsley which only opened three months before the first lockdown.
He wants to see measures to bring shoppers back to town centres:
"It's looking at ways to promote people to spend their money in local towns and local high streets rather than online. Look at ways to regenerate high streets and promote the idea of people coming into physical shops and buying things.
"They can only have the option of getting books from the high street in Barnsley if shops like ourselves are still there. There needs to be the support and the encouragement for people to go into towns for the local communities to thrive."
The Chancellor is expected to start his Budget speech at 12.30pm in the House of Commons.