This is a budget that has been shambolic in preparation with leaks and spin. Now we have the reality, it is a budget that takes taxes to record levels so that the government can boost welfare spending. This is despite the Prime Minister and Chancellor saying that welfare spending was already not sustainable.

Labour came into office saying they would increase taxes by £8.5 billion and that anyone who said their pledges would cost more was a liar. Two budgets later taxes have gone up by £66 billion. It is no surprise that the public are cross and distrustful and economic indicators are heading in the wrong direction.

In terms of the specifics, growth forecasts have been downgraded in every year of the parliament when the government said growth was its main policy objective. This is a budget of broken promises. By the end of the parliament, due to the freezing of thresholds, one in four workers will have to pay the upper rate of income tax and older people who live only on the state pension will become tax payers.

Locally, our area has a huge visitor industry but mayors can now introduce a tourism tax. You cannot tax your way to growth. This budget is a shocker. Business confidence is down, consumer confidence is down and nothing it the budget will turn them around.

This Autumn Budget delivers one of the largest tax increases in modern history. While the Government claims this is necessary to restore fiscal stability, these measures risk undermining growth, investment, and confidence across the economy.

"First and foremost, I remain deeply concerned that the Budget fails to reverse previous proposals on Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR). These reliefs are critical for family farms and rural businesses, enabling them to pass holdings from one generation to the next without crippling tax bills. The decision to maintain these measures will hit genuine farming families hard. These are not wealthy conglomerates; they are multi-generational businesses that sustain jobs, food security, and stewardship of our countryside. Penalising them risks long-term damage to rural communities and our food security.

Beyond farming, the scale of tax rises announced is staggering. Freezing personal tax thresholds until 2031 will drag millions more into higher tax bands by the end of the decade. Combined with increases to dividend, property, and savings income tax rates, and the introduction of a mileage-based charge on electric vehicles, this Budget places an ever-heavier burden on households and businesses.

I recognise the need to manage debt and borrowing, but this Budget leans too heavily on tax hikes rather than delivering growth. The UK’s debt also remains close to 100% of GDP leaving little resilience if economic conditions deteriorate.

We need a fairer, more balanced approach, one that encourages investment, supports businesses - including the hospitality sector, and protects family farms from punitive inheritance tax changes. I will continue to press for policies that deliver stability without stifling growth.

The Chancellor could have boosted the economy, supported our high streets, and revived hospitality by scrapping the job tax, reforming business rates, and cutting VAT – measures businesses in Harrogate and Knaresborough have been crying out for.

Instead, this Budget piles more pressure on small businesses, hikes taxes left and right, and offers nothing for hospitality, pushing high streets further into decline. And to make matters worse, the Chancellor has broken her pledge not to increase taxes on working people.

And while communities like ours are taxed to breaking point, Yorkshire gets nothing back. Limited funding for the North. Limited investment in rail. No progress on dualling the Knaresborough–York line or improving the York ring road. A Northern Chancellor ignoring Northern needs and funnelling investment south yet again.

The Conservatives left our economy in tatters. Labour promised to fix it, but today’s Budget only deepens the struggles of households, businesses, and communities. Harrogate and Knaresborough deserve better.

The Chancellor says she wants growth, but cutting support won’t deliver it. I’ll keep fighting for the funding and investment our region needs to thrive.

Today’s Budget introduces several measures that may affect businesses in different ways, both positive and negative, and it will take time to understand how these play out locally. 

We recognise that many town-centre operators are already facing a difficult trading environment, so clarity will be important in the weeks ahead. Harrogate BID will continue to review the detail and monitor the impact on our levy payers. Our commitment is to continue supporting a resilient and healthy town centre.

A visitor levy in York and North Yorkshire will be a total gamechanger for our region. We’re home to beautiful towns, villages and cities.

A small charge on overnight stays can revolutionise how we deliver transport, support businesses, invest in infrastructure and the visitor economy. Building the healthy and thriving communities for our residents and everyone that comes to visit them.

We'll make sure this is right for our region, I'm committed to working openly and transparently with the Government and local partners to make sure this works for York and North Yorkshire through a comprehensive consultation process.

Minimum wage increases are on the face of it good for employees affected by it, but the other side of that coin is that it puts more cost pressures on business owners who are likely to reduce hiring and staff hours. The other option is to pass the additional cost onto consumers through increased prices which further fuels the so called 'cost of living crisis' and would likely result in reduced sales. It thus becomes a brake on growth - which is what the Chancellor continues to talk up.

Increases in the benefits bill, despite a recognition that the whole system needs reform. And of course, it is business that generates the money to pay benefits, so another indirect hit on business. £26 billionn of additional taxes will be raised by FY29/30 smacks of hiking taxes to pay for welfare.

I would have liked to have seen something positive on Business Rates for SMEs, but thankfully there is no further increase on National Insurance and no increase in VAT. Corporation Tax remains unchanged, so there is relief it has not increased but disappointment it has not been revised down.

The government’s own Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses published this year recognised that ‘accelerating SME growth by just 1 percentage point a year could deliver £320 billion to the UK economy by 2030’. Despite this today’s budget announcements create further hurdles to growth for businesses in our region.

In particular, increases in taxation on dividends and levying National Insurance on salary sacrificed pensions contributions are likely to have a negative impact on many local businesses and reduced capital gains tax relief on disposal to employee ownership trusts will restrict a source of capital being freed up for reinvestment by local business owners.

Harrogate businesses are of course resilient, and we know that our members will ultimately emerge stronger although we would look to the government to do more to recognise and support the contribution made by the local business community.

There has been significant trepidation in recent weeks about what measures the Chancellor would announce in this budget and how these will affect businesses in the Harrogate area. Today’s announcement contained little that will help the local business community.

Whilst no further increase to National Insurance rates is a relief, freezes in tax thresholds and increasing tax rates on dividends will hit many smaller business owners particularly hard.

Changes to National Insurance on salary sacrificed pensions contributions will make it harder for our local businesses to attract and retain staff and reduce long-term saving for retirement.

Increased funding for apprenticeships will do little to offset the impact of increases in the minimum wage and many businesses in the region will face continued hurdles to recruit more staff. This will be particularly acute for businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors, and for our critical charity and social care sector which are key drivers for employment locally.

Investment in the TransPennine route upgrade and Northern Powerhouse Rail are welcome but provide little short-term relief to local businesses impacted by an aging infrastructure suffering after decades of underinvestment.

Whilst the OBR’s forecast predicts higher than expected growth this year the longer-term prospects are lower than expected and so in combination a raft of policies that are averse to small and medium sized enterprises we expect a challenging next 12 months for many Harrogate businesses.

Minimum wage rises will impact hospitality and retail greatly and deter businesses from employing and training young people. One hospitality business in Ripon has reported that the budget has added £1,000 per month to their wage bill. Where is that money going to come from?

Freezing income tax thresholds creates a fiscal drag which means less spending power in our Ripon businesses.

On the tourism tax - Ripon has few hotels and is an emerging tourist city for overnight stays and we wouldn’t want anything to slow our progress. There is also the question of where do Airbnb sit in amongst all this - it is not a one size fits all solution and shouldn’t be rushed through county wide.  

Knaresborough & District Chamber of Trade recognise the current challenges for local businesses. 

However, as the dust settles on the Chancellor’s budget we welcome the proposed changes in business rates that should benefit the smaller high street businesses on which our town relies. In addition, as Chamber begins its new Community Wealth Building project with medium to larger companies in the area, we’re also pleased to see funding that will make training for under-25 apprenticeships free for SME’s and would hope that this will continue to encourage local companies to recruitment of local young talent into their businesses. 

 No doubt there will be much to understand for businesses in today’s announcements, but most importantly we hope that stability can lead to sustainable growth for local businesses.