Chancellor announces £1bn financial support for Covid-hit sectors

The Cross Keys in Nottingham city centre

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £1bn package of help for the embattled hospitality and leisure sectors.

Busisnesses in both industries will be able to apply for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises. The Chancellor has also announced £100 million discretionary in funding which will be made available for local authorities to support other businesses.

The Government says it will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers and a £30m fund will be made available through for cultural organisations.

At what is often their most profitable time of year, many pubs and restaurants have seen cancellations and reduced footfall as people have responded to the rise in cases ahead of Christmas, with Hospitality UK reporting that many businesses have lost 40-60% of their December trade, often their most profitable month.

Around 200,000 businesses will be eligible for business grants which will be administered by local authorities and will be available in the coming weeks.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: “With the surge in Omicron cases, people are rightly exercising more caution as they go about their lives, which is impacting our hospitality, leisure and cultural sectors at what is typically the busiest time of the year.

“That’s why we’re taking immediate action to help with an extra £1 billion in grants to these industries and reintroducing our Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme.

“I urge people across the country to please get boosted now to secure vital protection for yourselves, your loved ones and your communities.”

Sunak said: “We recognise that the spread of the Omicron variant means businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors are facing huge uncertainty, at a crucial time.

“So we’re stepping in with £1 billion of support, including a new grant scheme, the reintroduction of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme and further funding released through the Culture Recovery Fund.

“Ultimately the best thing we can do to support businesses is to get the virus under control, so I urge everyone to get boosted now.”

Scott Knowles, chief executive of the East Midlands Chamber, said: “These measures will provide some welcome respite to many of those businesses that have been hit hardest by the latest Covid-19 measures.

“The Chancellor and his team has engaged with the British Chambers of Commerce in talks over the past week, considered the experiences of business communities including in the East Midlands, and the proposals we put to them.

“We are pleased the Chancellor heard our call for additional grant funding for hospitality and leisure businesses, which will provide some much-needed support in the face of this increasingly difficult trading period.”

 

Unions reacted angrily to the announcement. Bryan Simpson, Unite hospitality industrial organiser, said: “We are already aware of workers being sent home without pay as customers stay at home. This is an intolerable position to put workers in. Providing an average of £50 per worker is not going to stabilise this sector. It is a scandal. We need furlough, not grants for bosses, to ensure that workers’ wages are paid. Workers in this sector are having sleepless nights and feel abandoned by this government.”

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