BUDGET 2010: The winners and losers do their sums

FAMILY

Alexandra Wood

THIS year's Budget left company director Nic Johnson "completely underwhelmed".

Mr Johnson, who runs an advertising, graphic design, web and marketing agency in Hull, and who lives with his wife Sarah and two daughters Olivia, 10 and Isabelle, eight, in Beverley, said the lack of trust caused by the recent expenses scandal permeated everything – leaving him ever more sceptical of Government announcements.

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He said: "There's been a failure to deliver in the past. From a family perspective I've seen nothing previously which has helped in any way and from a small business perspective it feels like hollow words.

"Take the 2.5bn package to boost skills and innovation – how will that filter down?

"I think they have huffed and puffed about help for small businesses during the recession and nothing has ever arrived. We never seem to fit the criteria.

"We still haven't seen any help from the banks – it all seems to be one way. Alistair Darling had a great opportunity to be tougher on them.

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"It feels like lip service when you consider borrowing is going to be 167bn and they are crowing about being on track to achieving 11bn – it's just a drop in the ocean. Everyone has come to accept rises on top of rises but that doesn't mean it is right."

Mr Johnson was unimpressed by the staged fuel duty increase and the 10 per cent duty rise above inflation on cider added insult to injury for him. He said: "It was an industry which was in the doldrums for years and now suddenly it's popular, so the Government has seen it as a way of getting in revenue."

YOUNG COUPLE

Andrew Robinson

SCRAPPING stamp duty for homes below 250,000 for first-time buyers is "fantastic" news for Nina Barker – she spends her working life selling apartments in the centre of Leeds.

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A senior sales consultant at a property consultant, Miss Barker deals with a high proportion of first-time buyers, many of whom rely on their parents to raise deposits for apartments in the Granary Wharf development.

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Scrapping stamp duty would save some flat buyers between 1,000 and 2,000, she said, which has handed her a "great sales pitch", although she won't personally benefit as she is already a home-owner.

"About four out of five people I see are first-time buyers. It's a real struggle to find the cash so this is fantastic. It has just handed some of them 2,000, which is incredible."

But the change to stamp duty was the only budget announcement that she has enthusiasm for, declaring the rest of it "boring" with little to inspire confidence in the future direction of the economy.

"It didn't give us anything to get excited about, apart from stamp duty," she said.

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She declared the rising cost of fuel "outrageous". She drives a company car, a Volkswagen Golf diesel, and her boyfriend has a Nissan Micra. Their weekly fuel bills just keep on rising.

"Putting up petrol by a penny here and a penny there is pointless; I don't think it should rise at all," she said.

Her 29-year-old partner Will Jordan, who works for a bank in Halifax as a project manager, said: "I think it was a typical pre-election budget with no radical reforms to scare off potential voters but I do think they're on the right track. I will be slightly worse off due to the tax increases on petrol and alcohol but nothing to really hit us hard."

The couple, who don't have any children, live in north Leeds and have a joint mortgage on a three-bed semi.

PENSIONER

Mark Branagan

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FOR retired civil servant Fred Landray, 74, it was a "nothing Budget" that could only disappoint those who depend on the basic state pension.

Mr Landray, of Main Street, Cayton, near Scarborough, said: "It was very bland. It was a bit of a nothing Budget. I felt sorry for the poor bloke. He has been manoeuvred into a corner where he has to try to make concessions, but can't

"He hammered the fags and booze and petrol – not badly. But it was a bit of a stealth thing with the petrol. It has gone up 5p in the last month any way.

"The figures he quoted for the amount of old age pension we were getting we had already been notified about. We were going to get that anyway.

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"I don't drink very much and I don't smoke.The only thing in it for me is the announcement that after the age of 70 the first 10,000 of any income you have got is tax-free.

"I am all for chasing tax dodgers and going to offshore accounts – if they can do it. But they have mentioned of lot of things and they have not got a cat in hell's chance of doing them.

"Things about green power are very interesting. But it won't affect me. He dare not spread his wings because of the election. I can imagine someone just on their pension would have been hoping for something more."

Before the Budget, Mr Landray had called for action "to match the austerity of the hour" – not loaded with pre-election perks to be paid for somewhere down the line.

BUSINESSWOMAN

Martin Slack

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PLANS to introduce more university courses in engineering, science and maths and assistance for graduates who want to set up businesses were welcomed by Kate Senter, 28.

Miss Senter is deputy president of the Sheffield branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI), which helps people in their 20s and 30s to make contacts and boost career prospects.

The Chancellor's plans for a 35m enterprise fund to help university-launched business was the main highlight in what Miss Senter otherwise described as "a middle of the road" budget.

She said: "Our organisation is all about inspiring young people, so anything that makes it easier for them to start up businesses or explore their ideas we would obviously welcome.

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"It is good to see funding for more university courses in engineering, sciences and maths and the extension of training for people under 24 is also a sign of investment in the future.

"More needs to be done to support young people who don't go to university, particularly in Yorkshire where there is likely to be more of an emphasis on manufacturing jobs in future. "This area has a great manufacturing background, but gone are the days of the steelworkers and we need to see young people leaving schools with the skills employers need.

"Hopefully this training will inspire young people to see that they have a future in this area and will give them the confidence they need to go on and learn more skills.

"We all realise that the Chancellor has a very hard job and was in a difficult position to start with, so I am not surprised that the budget seemed to be cautious and sensible.

"We couldn't have expected anything else, but there does appear to be a slightly more positive outlook than there

has been in recent months, it doesn't all seem to be doom and gloom."

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