DELAYING the 2 per cent rise in National Insurance contributions for the self-employed by six months will not change the negative impact it is going to have on the local economy, says Wellington Business Association chairman Keith Wheatley.

“The South-West has the highest proportion of self-employed people of any UK region except London, according to the Office of National Statistics,” he said.

“And in practice the majority of those people are not in the big cities like Bristol and Exeter – where the large employers are – but in small towns like Wellington and rural areas like the Blackdowns.

“Half of our members are small independent businesses and they are unimpressed by a Budget like this one.

“Factor in the rises in business rates and one begins to wonder if the Conservatives really are the pro-enterprise party.”