内容摘要：Ms Portas also praised plans to crack down on late payments as "cash flow is vital" to independent businesses.

Ms Portas also praised plans to crack down on late payments as "cash flow is vital" to independent businesses.

Legal releases of beavers have already taken place in Knapdale in Argyll and parts of the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands.FLS and its project partner, conservation charity Trees for Life, said they had carried out two years of consultation with local communities and land managers.

Euan Wiseman, FLS north region planning manager, said: "Over the years we have built up good working relationships with the local Affric communities so it was important that we took the time to fully engage with everyone on this issue."He added: "We have now put appropriate measures in place that have enabled us to make a formal application to NatureScot for a release licence."Alan McDonnell, Trees for Life's head of nature restoration, added: "Should the application be approved, we will be ready to offer practical support to ensure the local community can enjoy and benefit from beavers being brought back to the glen, with any localised issues well-managed."

Beavers died out in Scotland about 400 years ago but were reintroduced in 2009.Conservation organisations say beaver activity can improve water quality and wetland habitats and also help to alleviate flooding.

But in the Cairngorms there has been criticism from farmers and crofters.

They said a proper consultation was not held ahead of the releases in the national park.The BCC said confidence had fallen, with 49% of firms expecting sales to increase over the next year. The business group said this was the lowest level since the aftermath of the mini-budget in late 2022.

"The worrying reverberations of the Budget are clear to see in our survey data," Ms Haviland said."Businesses confidence has slumped in a pressure cooker of rising costs and taxes."

A Treasury spokesperson said: "We delivered a once-in-a-parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean and deliver the stability businesses so desperately need."We have ensured more than half of employers will either see a cut or no change in their National Insurance bills.