Small firms, families and charities braced for crucial Budget

The build-up to Rachel Reeves’ Budget has been preceded by months of fevered speculation.

And after weeks of confusion and speculation, the pressure is now on the chancellor to deliver a set of measures that can command the confidence of the country.

But who are likely to be the winners and losers on Wednesday?

STV News spoke to a cross-section of society about what they would like to see in this crucial Budget during a cost of living crisis.

‘If the cost of living is sky high, nobody is spending money’

Businesses are looking for a sweeter deal than last year, when they were hit with a rise in employers’ national insurance.

The National Minimum wage will increase by 8.5% to £10.85 an hour, narrowing the gap with the National Living Wage.

But that is just one challenge facing the beleagured hospitality sector.

Kate Kenyon, owner and director of SOBR in Aberdeen, said: “I think it could be quite difficult.

“We are a small venue, we can only cater for so many customers at a time that makes this space really intimate. I think that’s what our customers love – it is small, it is local, supportive and we offer a great service.

“But by doing so we don’t have a huge turnover because we are a little bit smaller, so we need to think about ways we can still have a great profit, a great turnover, so looking at doing extra things like corporate events, private hire, opening on days when we wouldn’t potentially be open for those private hire spaces.

“It is tricky because when you have a slightly smaller business, your options are limited.

“The overall economy makes a huge difference to us. If the cost of living is sky high, nobody is going to come in because they can’t afford to splurge, they can’t afford to spend their disposable income on something they find is a bit more of a luxury.

“If things happen with the economy that has an impact on us – whether it’s increased tax, increased business rates, increased National Living Wages etc – it all has an impact and it all has a domino effect on how all businesses work.”

‘There is huge pressure on childcare services like ours’

Juniors in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, is a place parents can come for support with food, clothing and claiming benefits.

Lesley Robertson, the charity’s founder, told STV News: “Things are getting much worse, even our numbers in terms of working poverty families have increased significantly.

“The energy prices, cost of living prices, food prices, and then all of course it’s happening at the worst time – we’ve had summer, Halloween, Guy Fawkes and now in the lead up to Christmas, the temperatures have dropped dramatically and there is major concern about how families are going to get by.

“We would really like the UK Government to look at the benefits system, how it’s worked, and what other services they can put in place to help families. We would also like security – places like Juniors and other youth community hubs, projects, childcare and family centres are all massively important to families on low incomes.

“If we don’t get the security, other services get oversubscribed, children are missing out, pressures at home are going to get even worse, it’s going to widen the poverty gap within Scotland.

“There is huge pressure on us. I can’t even describe how much pressure there is. There are more families coming through the door. We can only do so much, we can feed them here and give them a warm place to come, but on the whole we can’t contribute towards heating costs.

“If we don’t get support and funding, Juniors doesn’t exist. We don’t have any products or services to sell to bring in an income – this free to families in need.

“If you take away services like ours, where do these families go to feel like a parent?”

‘We want to see the two-child benefit cap scrapped in this Budget’

Peter Kelly, CEO of Poverty Alliance. STV News

Last month, thousands took to the streets of Edinburgh to demand more action to tackle poverty.

One of the key measures expected in the Budget is an end to the two-child cap on benefits.

Peter Kelly, chief executive of the Poverty Alliance, said: “There’s been lots of speculation about the two-child limit and we’re hopeful that will finally go.

“It’s been one of the primary drivers in recent years of the increase in child poverty across the UK. We’ve had different trends in Scotland, but it’s played a big part in keeping levels of child poverty in Scotland high, so we really want to see that go in this Budget.”

The Scottish Government has plans to mitigate that.

“What it will do for the Scottish Government is it will free up some of that resource they have earmarked for next year to tackle child poverty.

“We want to see that money put to good use. That money is not going to be saved, it needs to be spent on tackling the problems of poverty in Scotland because we’ve still got a long, long way to go to get to grips with poverty in Scotland and poverty overall.

“One of the things the Scottish Government has introduced in recent years is the Scottish Child Payment – that has been a really effective measure at boosting family incomes, and that’s something we would like to see money invested in to help more children and families get out of poverty.”

‘We need predictability for a just transition’

In the north and east of Scotland, energy is a vital sector and one that will watch this Budget closely.

The shipping firm North Star operates almost 50 vessels and works in both oil and gas, and renewables.

For the boss, there’s key polical decisions needed in both areas.

Gitte Gard Talmo, CEO of North Star, said: “For us to see a just transition from oil and gas into offshore wind, we need predictability for our offshore operators and developers to see a predictable aution round and no delays in funding etc, so they are willing to come here and build a multi-decade long infrastructure project.

“On the other side, we need to have a stable framework for the oil and gas sector.”