'We're on a knife edge': What do people want from the Chancellor's Autumn Budget?

Small business owners in the West Country have said they fear it will become "extremely difficult" to pay staff under plans being considered by the Government.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to announce her Autumn Budget for the country in Parliament tomorrow, on Wednesday 30 October - though many of her proposals have already been widely trailed.

Her statement will set out how the Government intends to spend and raise money, including any hikes to taxes and any extra financial support for businesses, renters or local councils that are struggling. It's also Labour's first Budget in 15 years.

But business owners across the South West have warned that many companies are already "on a knife edge" and said plans to raise National Insurance contributions for employers could make it "very tough" for some to survive.

Kieran Walton runs a gaming arcade in the Newquay and fears this policy in the Autumn Budget will push his business to the brink.

Speaking to ITV West Country ahead of the budget, Kieran said: "It will make it extremely difficult for us to be able to afford to pay our staff.

"Because [it's] off-season here in Newquay, it’s already quite tough to be able to make the right amount of income to be able to pay staff properly.

"It’s very seasonal here and in the summer it’s a lot better. We get the summer trade but when it comes to the winter season, it’s very tough for us."

National Insurance contributions (NICs) are a type of income paid by employees, employers and the self-employed. The Labour Government confirmed it is intending to raise these for employers last weekend.

Simon Thompson, who runs Fore Street Cafe in Newquay, believes the move will raise his NIC to "somewhere in the region of £30,000 a year".

"Every bill increase for me, I’m constantly having to juggle where that money is going to come from," he warned.

"Do I need to adjust my prices? Do I need to reduce people’s hours? It’s a huge issue for us because there is not one business in this town - I can promise you - that isn’t on a knife edge of just, 'are we making money enough to make this worthwhile?'"

• WATCH: People in Newquay speak to ITV West Country's Kathy Wardle about what they'd like to see

Pub landlord Simon Channing has been asking himself similar unnerving questions ahead of tomorrow's announcements.

He employs 12 people at his pub in Weston-super-Mare but believes an increase to NICs would mean he would have to cut back.

Simon said: "I don't want to be letting staff go because I can't afford the extra cost that's being put on us because of the extra national insurance contributions, wages. It's hard. It's a hard balance."

• WATCH: Residents in Weston-super-Mare call for more support for pensioners

Elsewhere, suggestions that the freeze on fuel duty could be lifted, which has been in place since 2011, has left some taxi drivers feeling worried.

"If the fuel goes up, it means I make less money, because obviously I'm paying more money for my fuel," said Peter Badman, who has driven a taxi in Weston for 20 years.

He cannot understand why the Chancellor might change this now, but said it would make "a massive difference" for him as a taxi driver.

Business leaders: 'Not knowing what's going to happen is quite damning'

While much of the Chancellor's plans have already been announced in the run-up to the Autumn Budget, there is still some uncertainty about the details of what support might be revealed.

One cafe owner in Newquay believes the Chancellor should raise the VAT threshold - the amount of money a company can take, before it has to pay Value Added Tax. Claire Weiss said doing this would mean she could retain all of her staff throughout the quieter winter months.

She said: "If the VAT threshold was up, small businesses like ourselves wouldn’t need to pay the VAT. So, it would keep us open for more [of the] winter you know and we wouldn’t have to reduce the staff."

Mark Warren, at Newquay Business Improvement District, said there is still "huge uncertainty" for many people.

"We’ve got nothing on business rates relief that could finish in April," he said. It has "a huge, huge impact on a lot of businesses - they really rely on that."

Mark added: "You’re going into the cost of living, heating bills are going to go up, the lighting’s going to go up... It’s that huge uncertainty.

"We’ve come out of a pretty good summer but people don’t have as much money in their pockets, so having that uncertainty at the moment - not knowing what’s going to be happening for the budget - is quite damning".

What are the biggest issues for people in the West Country?

The cost of living, soaring prices for childcare and the increasing food costs are all some of the issues people in Newquay and Weston-super-Mare said they would like to see addressed by the Chancellor tomorrow.

One grandmother enjoying the unseasonably warm weather on Towan Beach said she would like Rachel Reeves to announce "more breaks for people with young children". She explained that her children are having to pay "so much for childcare".

On the beach in Weston, Emma Jackson, who has six children, said she wants to hear about "more money to be able to live normally," so that many people are "not scrimping and scraping every day". It's "quite hard," she added.

Meanwhile, one person said she would like to see the Government provide more support for "energy costs, which are growing sort of weekly," while a man added that "food costs have gone up a lot and they don’t seem to be stabilising or going down".

The Labour Government scrapped winter fuel payments for as many as many as ten million pensioners across England and Wales, earlier this year.

Lifelong Labour voter Dave Doughty told ITV News that the removal of support for some pensioners has changed his mind about the party after 40-odd years of support.

"I'm 68-years-old," he said. "I'm disgusted in them [the government]. They're thieves."

It's rumoured that Rachel Reeves will announce a boost to the minimum wage by up to six per cent, which will be welcome news for many employees but could add to the financial woes for some small businesses.

But it is also believed that income tax thresholds will remain frozen, which means as salaries rise with inflation, more people end up paying a higher rate of tax. The Government has also confirmed that the £2 bus cap will now be replaced with a £3 cap instead.

ITV West Country Political Correspondent Lucy McDaid has written more on what people in the West Country can expect from tomorrow's announcements - and what impact these could have.