Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out a £4.6 billion plan to help businesses that are being forced to close through the third lockdown.
It includes one-off top up grants of up to £9,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure venues.
It comes after Boris Johnson ordered the nation to stay at home and closed schools in a bid to bring down spiralling rates of Covid-19.
The Prime Minister said the restrictions would last until at least mid-February, though today cabinet minister Micheal Gove said they may not be lifted until the end of March.
The Chancellor has already extended the furlough scheme until the end of April.
Like in the previous two lockdowns, non-essential businesses such as bars, pubs, restaurants, gyms and hairdressers must remain closed.
The amount shut down businesses can receive will depend on the value of the company.
Business grants
The grants include:
- £4k for businesses with a rateable value of £15k or under
- £6k for businesses with a rateable value between £15k and £51k
- £9k for businesses with a rateable value of over £51k
More information can be found here
The cash will be provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions.
The Treasury said it will benefit over 600,000 business properties, worth £4 billion in total across all nations of the UK.
A further £594 million is also being made available for Local Authorities and the Devolved Administrations to support other businesses which are not eligible for the grants but may be affected by the restrictions.
Mr Sunak said: ‘The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.
‘Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the Spring.
‘This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.’
The support comes in addition to £1.1 billion of grant funding for Local Authorities and Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to 3,000 pounds a month, as well as an extension of the job furlough scheme.
The Government announced in December that it will continue paying 80% towards wages of unworked hours in a bid to support businesses and employees in the New Year.
However it resisted calls to change the eligibility criteria for the scheme.
Campaign group Excluded UK say millions of people are falling through gaps in Government support.
More to follow
source https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/05/rishi-sunak-announces-new-covid-business-grants-13848637/