ALISTAIR DARLING’S efforts to help business in his “Budget for jobs” fell short, North-East business leaders said last night.

There was concern that not enough was done to encourage employers to preserve jobs, with the region’s Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) describing the Budget as wishywashy.

There was particular disappointment among businesses that no compensation schemes for short-time working, which would offer companies financial support to retain staff, was introduced.

James Ramsbotham, from the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), said that while there was support for workers losing jobs, not enough had been done to keep people in jobs.

He said: “It is the nuts and bolts of Alistair Darling’s speech where we feel he could and should have gone further.

“There was no room in the Budget for a short-time working directive and no space for reinstating the staff hire concession.”

Colin Stratton, regional chairman of the FSB, said: “The Chancellor, who had a real opportunity to assist small businesses and come out fighting, has failed small businesses in the region hugely.

“A Government-funded wage subsidy for short-time working would have been a real help, and small firms will also be disappointed not to have received the benefit of automatic rate relief, which would have boosted small businesses to the tune of £400m.”

Alan Hall, North-East director of manufacturing group EEF, said the Chancellor had gone some way towards alleviating the short-term pressures facing companies.

However, with statutory redundancy pay rising from £350 to £380 a week he said: “Manufacturers will be disappointed that the Chancellor has hit them with the double whammy of failing to provide support for short-time working whilst increasing the costs of redundancy.”

The Chancellor announced plans to create or support 250,000 jobs as part of measures to stem the rise in unemployment and help jobseekers, particularly the young, find work.

Measures to help business included extending a scheme allowing loss-making firms to reclaim tax on profits from the past three years until November 2010.

The capital allowance rate for businesses has been doubled to 40 per cent for a year, to encourage businesses to bring forward investment plans.

These allow businesses to offset a proportion of their spending on equipment and property against profits, thereby reducing their tax bill.

David Elliott, a tax partner at KPMG in Newcastle and chairman of the NECC fiscal policy working group, said: “While the doubling of the main capital allowance rate is clearly welcome, it does presuppose that businesses have access to lending with which they can fund investments in the first place – lending which we know has been in short supply in recent times.”

The Chancellor also announced a “top-up trade credit insurance scheme”, which will match private sector trade credit insurance provision if insurers reduce their cover to any business operating in the UK.

There will also be a £750m fund to help emerging technologies and regionally important sectors.