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Report
Kent reacts to Labour budget
KentOnline / KMTV
Follow
31/10/2024
Businesses in Medway say they might have to lay off staff.
Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
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00:00
This budget raises taxes by £40 billion.
00:03
Businesses reeling, voters divided, the voluntary sector exasperated.
00:09
But does Labour's first budget in more than a decade actually mean more cash for Kent?
00:17
Well, for the working man and those in need, the budget might bring welcome relief.
00:22
Minimum wage has skyrocketed, meaning you could be earning more than a grand extra a year.
00:30
But not everyone on Rochester High Street thinks this will pay off.
00:35
I think that's good for people on minimum wage, but it's not good for small businesses
00:40
because they've obviously got to pay that minimum wage and probably less people will get employed.
00:45
I'm happy that it's gone up.
00:48
The cost of living rises, it needs to, especially for the younger people trying to get into the play,
00:55
finding places to live, the apprentices.
00:56
The 16 to 18 year olds, good for them. For people over that limit, I think it's just going to have a knock-on effect
01:05
on small coffee shop businesses because they've got to pass that cost on.
01:11
The burden for these cost of living measures is on employers.
01:16
With national insurance contributions for businesses rising to 15%,
01:23
combined with the new minimum wage, there are worries smaller businesses will feel the brunt.
01:30
We're looking, you know, £140 to £160 a week extra costs without actually any other way of...
01:40
The only way we can actually find that money is to absorb it from our margin, from our own wages,
01:47
from being self-employed and such like.
01:49
So, yeah, it's a bit of a bummer.
01:51
Clearly what's going to happen is all small businesses will just have to tighten their belts,
01:56
lay off staff, reduce margin, reduce expectations,
02:01
or what we will have to do next year is not take a holiday.
02:03
So that'll be it.
02:04
And even charities and food banks here in Chatham are fearing for the worst.
02:10
As an employer, it's not good.
02:12
We're getting hit twice, so we've now got to pay more national insurance contributions
02:16
and the minimum wage has gone up.
02:17
So we struggle. We're struggling as it is.
02:20
So for us to add that additional cost is just madness for us.
02:24
You know, we might end up having to make cuts ourselves and there might be job losses.
02:28
The government say they have to make difficult decisions to balance the books.
02:33
And while this budget will be welcomed by those struggling to make ends meet,
02:38
it's clear not everyone here in Kent is a fan of the taxman.
02:44
Oliver Leader, the Saks 4 KMTV in Rochester.
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