Chancellor Alistair Darling will present his first budget tomorrow. With the fall-out from Northern Rock contributing to an already gloomy economic climate, some are saying it could be his last.

Business Editor Sam Thomson asks business leaders in Sussex what they would like to hear from the Chancellor at the dispatch box.

Red tape is strangling small businesses and Alistair Darling must get the scissors out at the dispatch box tomorrow.

That is the clear message from all sides in Sussex as the Chancellor prepares for his first budget.

On a national level, Mr Darling is being urged to do very little as the country braces itself for slow economic growth and increasing inflation.

The nationalisation of Northern Rock is expected to break Gordon Brown's sustainable investment rule that total Government debt must not surpass 40 per cent of gross domestic product.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's legacy as Chancellor already forms a major part of this year's budget.

Mr Brown's major changes to the tax system, dropping the basic rate of income tax to 20p while abolishing the 10p starting rate, were made long before Mr Darling entered 11 Downing Street and will come into force this April.

Richard Lambert, head of the Confederation of British Industry, said recently that if Mr Darling was to limit his budget to six brief paragraphs it would win him the "love and admiration" of the British people.

But to win the same from Sussex business, those six paragraphs must contain measures to reduce the burden of bureaucracy on small firms.

Mark Froud, chief executive of Sussex Enterprise, the county's chamber of commerce, said: "This is a chance for the new Chancellor to do something positive for business.

His track record so far isn't great. The last time he stood up he increased corporation tax for most businesses and changed the rules on capital gains tax.

"The verdict so far, Alistair, is that we are not convinced you understand people that own and run businesses or that you want us to succeed."

Top of Sussex Enterprise's wish list is reducing the "pointless"

bureaucracy that comes with starting and running a business.

In smaller firms the owner or manager can spend too much time complying with legislation rather than actually focusing on running the company.

This call was echoed by Roger Marlowe, former chairman of Brighton and Hove Hoteliers' Association. He owns Paskins Hotel in Kemp Town and employs seven people.

Mr Marlow said: "A small hotel employing just a few people has so much to do now it's ridiculous. You need to be an expert in employee law, tax law, VAT law and lots more.

"Every time you take on a new employee a forest has to be cut down because of the amount of paperwork."

According to Sussex Enterprise, the Chancellor must help small businesses by merging PAYE and national insurance contributions, simplifying capital tax credits and extending research and development tax credit to cover firms and expenditure on intellectual property.

Mr Froud added: "The global marketplace is changing so the Government needs to respond and create a culture where businesses can thrive. Businesses must receive more support to help increase their competitiveness.

"The importance of research and development in the UK has come to the fore in recent years especially as developing countries have increased their manufacture of quality products in high volumes at extremely competitive prices.

"Anything the Chancellor can do to support the creation and retention of innovation in the UK will be beneficial to businesses."

Sussex Enterprise has collated a report which has been sent to the national British Chambers of Commerce to form part of its pre-budget submission to the Government.

Tony Mernagh, chairman of Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, would also like to see red tape cut but he pointed out that the Chancellor's hands could be tied.

He said: "The question isn't really so much what would people like the Chancellor to deliver. It is rather what can he afford to deliver. In the current economic climate, with public borrowing forecast to hit £45 billion next year, the answer is next to nothing'.

"The last person that had as little to work with as Darling started with two loaves and five fishes and although he delivered a miracle he had a lot of help from an influential parent. Alistair isn't so lucky."

As well as reducing bureaucracy, Mr Mernagh would like to see changes to the free bus pass for pensioners scheme, which has proved to be a major financial burden on local authorities.

He said: "Darling should sort out the fiasco over free fares on public transport for senior citizens. I am all for the idea but he has to pay for it since it was Labour's idea in the first place and the current system is inadequately funded and ill thought-out."

Away from tax and red tape, the issue of housing is sure to be on Mr Darling's mind as more and more evidence builds of a slowdown in the housing market.

Phil Graves, spokesman for the Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association, said: "From a property point of view the obvious issues are stamp duty and inheritance tax.

"We have had spiralling house prices so the thresholds are completely out of date."

Mr Graves is encouraged by the fact banks are scaling back risky lending deals such as 100 per cent mortgages, saying it showed the financial sector was showing more responsibility.

But the idea of the Government grading mortgages and giving the least risky a "gold standard", which some believe Mr Darling will announce in the budget, would lead to too much red tape, Mr Graves added.

He said: "There is already a huge amount of regulation around lending and what advice independent financial advisers can give. I think it's easy to blame the Government when things go bad but there has to be some sense of responsibility from us all."

What would you like to see in the Budget? Leave your comments below.