THAT red briefcase contained a mixed bag for Surrey residents, according to community and business groups.
As East Surrey digests the implications of George Osborne's budget, highs and lows have been identified.
While concessions such as no duty increases on fuel or beer and increasing the personal tax allowance to £10,000 may get the thumbs up from many, other measures, or the lack of them, have caused concern.
Chairman of the Surrey Chambers of Commerce, Louise Punter, labelled the Chancellor's fourth budget "a bit of a damp squib".
"We are in an unprecedented moment in our economic history and the Government should be doing everything in its power to get the economy moving," she said.
"Many of the Chancellor's measures are positive and specifically good for small companies – the £2,000 reduction in employers' National Insurance Contribution (NIC), the cancellation of the fuel duty rise, and the growth voucher scheme proposed by the British Chambers of Commerce.
"These are very positive, but we feel they may come too late because they are not starting immediately.
"Really, I think, the message from Chambers and certainly from businesses is that we do need a bit of urgency.
"I think it was a little bit of a damp squib in terms of making a difference quickly."
She said there was disappointment that there was nothing on businesses' access to finance.
"Within Surrey we are lucky, because we have probably been less affected than other places in the country in terms of the recession, but I think 'underwhelmed' is probably the best description – our members do not feel particularly affected by the budget."
District manager of the Citizens Advice Bureau, Elaine Parr, said there were tough times ahead for many residents.
"The move to the low income tax rates will be beneficial to a large number of our clients, many of whom are in very low-salaried jobs," she said.
"Many of them have to have more than one job just to make ends meet, living where we do.
"The fuel duty changes will also help, but many clients have either already given up their cars or have curtailed their journeys significantly.
"We are all, however, very concerned about the forthcoming changes to the welfare benefit system.
"We have all been attending a wide range of training courses which we feed back to each other, but I think one of our main concerns is that people are not actually going to really understand the impact of these changes until they happen to them."
One point of great cheer was the 1p cut in beer duty and the 3p rise being scrapped. While it must be good news, Ruth Roberts, of The Pilgrim Brewery in Reigate, gave the Surrey Mirror some context. She said: "You must never complain when the Chancellor reduces something and for the big guys, saving 72p per barrel, selling thousands of barrels, it will make a difference. "And Camra [the Campaign for Real Ale, which has campaigned on the issue] must be applauded for arresting any increase. "But for us, a microbrewery, we're saving about 30p on a 72-pint barrel for an average beer. It's a lot of extra administrative effort for not much, and false hopes for the customer. "If it had gone up by 3p per pint, it is likely landlords would have been tempted to put it up by five pence. Now, they are between a rock and a hard place because customers are going to expect it to go down, when the landlord hasn't saved that much." The budget has extended shared equity schemes and allowed government-guaranteed interest-free loans for homebuyers, up to 20 per cent of the value of new-build properties. Andrew Farrant, the senior partner at White and Sons estate agent, which has offices in Reigate, Horley, Oxted and Dorking, said the new incentive, which the treasury says could inject £130 billion of lending into the market, was a huge, and potentially very good, move. He told the Mirror: "In a nutshell, these changes offer people who don't have a 20 per cent deposit the chance for a guarantee scheme to buy a house they wouldn't have been able to afford previously. "Allegedly it is riddled with difficulties in the small print but it is positive press, and full of good intention. If it works, it will allow a lot more people to enter the market." It is essentially the reinvention of the mortgage indemnity guarantee premium, prevalent in the 1980s and early 1990s, he added. The flat-rate pension of £144 per week was brought forward to 2016 and the cap on social care costs come in 2017. Veteran Redhill fundraiser and former borough councillor Mike Ormerod, 74, didn't think much of the Chancellor's changes. He said: "Mr Osborne produced a lot of headline-catching small measures to conceal the fact that the major drive of this financial strategy is affecting people on low incomes, including OAPs." Alan Chesterfield, of TaxAssist Accountants in Dorking, said the budget was a 'bitter blow to many business-owners'. He added: "There was a deafening silence on business rates, which we wanted to see frozen and nothing concrete on extending small business rate relief, due to come to an end next March. "However, the new Employment Allowance is a very positive step for Dorking's small business owners. Cutting up to £2,000 from employer National Insurance contributions is also a strong incentive for creating new jobs." He continued: "Scrapping the planned rise in fuel duty was also a top priority for small businesses in our survey, so this is also very welcome news. "For Dorking tradespeople and service providers who make home visits, their cars and vans are a vital part of their service, not a luxury and they can't absorb the cost of fuel price increases." Coast To Capital, the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which covers Mole Valley, has commended the Chancellor's 2013 budget. Reacting to the Budget statement, Ron Crank, chief executive of the LEP, said: "Given the constraints placed on the Chancellor by the prevailing difficult economic conditions, I am particularly pleased that the Budget has focused on helping companies create new jobs and providing improved conditions to encourage growth in business investment from abroad. "The Chancellor's announcement of a reduction in Corporation Tax is a case in point, and this and other measures will add to the attractiveness of companies doing business in and with our region. "We also welcome the new allowance that reduces the tax cost of employing people." Meanwhile David Hodge, leader of Surrey County Council, said our county was a shining example of the Chancellor's concept of an 'aspiration nation'. Adapt He added: "The county's success is down to its ability to adapt and change, and next week we'll announce plans to launch a trading arm to generate income to reinvest in services. "The other key to success is investing in the future. That's why we've just embarked on our biggest ever school expansion programme and recently announced we're creating 500 apprenticeships next year."