Political opinion with Alison Griffiths MP: Will Thursday be any easier for local businesses?

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In her weekly SussexWorld column, ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, Alison Griffiths MP asks whether the Chancellor has heard what local employers are telling her.

Alison Griffiths MP says local employers want to expand and create jobs, but rising costs are forcing many to hold back investment, with particular concerns about the affordability of recruiting young people. | Alison Griffiths MP

placeholder image — Alison Griffiths MP says local employers want to expand and create jobs, but rising costs are forcing many to hold back investment, with particular concerns about the affordability of recruiting young people. | Alison Griffiths MP

Will it be any easier to run a business on Thursday morning? After two punishing Labour Budgets, that’s the question facing employers as John Healey prepares his first. What new costs might they face? Which plans will have to wait?

If you’re reading this in Thursday’s newspaper, you already know what he announced. This column appears online on Monday, before the Budget, so let me share with you what businesses across Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, and our villages are telling me.

At my Business Club roundtable two Fridays ago, people running tourism, manufacturing, care, and hospitality businesses described the same squeeze. Employer National Insurance. Business rates. Energy bills. More employment rules. The bills keep coming. Several told me they want to expand, but are holding back money for taxes instead of buying equipment or hiring staff.

This concerns me most: employers who would love to give local young people a start now cannot afford it. Parents and school leavers tell me they want more apprenticeships and opportunities close to home. Yet nearly a million 16-to-24-year-olds across the UK are not in education, employment, or training.

That's why our Shadow Chancellor, Andrew Griffith, has made youth unemployment one of his five Budget tests. Conservatives have proposed halving employer National Insurance for 21-to-24-year-olds. That’s the sort of practical help employers are asking me for.

The reality is that Rachel Reeves made it more expensive to employ people. If John Healey adopts our proposal, I’ll be pleased. We’ve been pressing Labour to rethink hiring costs for months. But I’d much rather see the idea put to work than argue about who thought of it first.

Our hardworking businesses in Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, and our villages deserve support. I worry Labour still doesn't understand how serious things have become for them. I truly hope that when business owners look at their figures again on Thursday morning, they'll have more money to invest, and greater confidence to do so.