After so much of the Budget was revealed in advance, the Kernow Industrial Growth Fund was a genuine surprise, as south west political editor Martyn Oates explains:

Cornwall has received specific, substantial economic development funding for 25 years – first from the EU and more recently from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

The UKSPF ends next April and – while the government had already committed to a new funding stream for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and mayoral city regions in the Midlands and North – there was an apparently ominous silence regarding Cornwall.

Earmarked funding for Cornwall will now continue though there will be a lot less money going forward.

In the current financial year alone the final tranche of Shared Prosperity funding has brought £47m to Cornwall.

The new Kernow Industrial Growth Fund is a much smaller £30m pot and it is spread over two years.

Elsewhere in the Budget, the Chancellor confirmed workers aged 18-20 would see a minimum wage increase to £10.85 an hour, up from £10, and those aged 21 and over on the living wage would receive £12.71 an hour, up from £12.21.

Teenagers aged 16 or 17 on the minimum wage will be paid £8 an hour – a 45p raise.

Mr Brown said businesses needed more support with the rising wages.

He said: “There is nothing wrong with wages going up – that’s a good thing for everybody, we want workers to be well rewarded.

“We need to also balance that out with some incentives, some opportunities and some relief for organisations so that they can not just pay better wages but actually keep people in work as well.”

Tom Watson, a sausage stand owner in Devon, said an increase in minimum wage was welcome but could also put his business in a tricky situation.

He said: “It’s massive, we employ a lot of young people and a lot of people on minimum wage.

“The nature of the business that we run is we have a lot of temporary staff coming in seasonally.

“It’s a choice between us growing and taking on more staff and being careful about how many we take on and therefore saving ourselves money by not growing.”

Tim Ball, owner of Bar Buoy Cocktails in Exmouth, said he was “relieved” alcohol duty had not increased but had “slight concern” over wage increases.

He said: “I am delighted for staff that they do get the increase, but for operators, whether it’s retail or hospitality venues, I do have some concern of their ability to continue to keep their workforce fully employed.”

Exeter resident Becky Martin said the increase was “a minutely good thing” and a “tiny step in the right direction”.

She said: “I think the youth in this country are already too disenfranchised – not motivated by any little gesture the government gives because times are just too hard for us right now.

“There’s people that can’t afford to live in the city they were born in – I can’t afford to move out of my mum’s house and I’m not even on minimum wage, I’m paid more.”

The Chancellor also announced that the two-child cap on means-tested benefits would be lifted – currently parents can only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children.

This will be scrapped in April 2026, meaning those with three or more children will receive more in universal credit and tax credits.

Parents at a playgroup in Penryn said the cost of their food shop had doubled or even tripled in the last couple of years.

Kate who runs the playgroup, which also provides free clothes, equipment and toys for children under 5, said demand was soaring.

She said: “I think we’ve really noticed an increase in working families – families that previously were donating to us are now coming to get things from us.

“People are having to choose between heating and eating and I think demand is growing for our service.”

Wailim Wong from Citizens Advice Cornwall said demand for its services had never been higher and, in the last year, the service saw 7,000 people in Cornwall alone.

He said: “Ever since lockdown really, it’s been at that level – really, really high demand, people’s issues are getting more and more complex.

“They’re not coming with just one thing – they can’t afford to pay the rent because they’re in debt and they’re in debt because they’re not getting the benefits they’re entitled to.”

The government also announced a 3% increase in funding for the NHS in England over the next three years, saying tackling the hospital backlog was a number-one priority.

Money raised from higher taxes will help the government increase the NHS budget, it said.

Charlotte from Cornwall, who works in the NHS, said she had the health service to thank for bringing her two twins into the world.

“I’m very fortunate that I’ve had very amazing care in the NHS when I was pregnant with my twins.”

The Chancellor also announced that local authorities would not be expected to fund future special educational needs and disabilities (Send) costs once a statutory override keeping deficits off their balance sheets expires at the end of 2027/28.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said future funding would be managed within the overall government departmental expenditure limit envelope.

Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute, warned that while there was an imminent need to address rising costs of Send provision, the Government must not cut school funding to meet these pressures.

Councillor James Buczkowski, Devon’s cabinet member for finance, said the government had failed to confront the “growing crisis” in Send.

He said: “There is still no detail on how services that support children and young people with Send will be funded in future.

“Government promised an education reform White Paper in the summer – we have now been told it will be delayed again until the new year.

“Devon’s high needs deficit is approaching £160 million. This is a national policy failure and we still have no plan from government to address it.”