In response to the impact of the Omicron variant on business, the Chancellor has announced that businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises, plus more than £100 million discretionary funding will be made available for local authorities to support other businesses. The government will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers across the UK. £30 million further funding will also be made available through the Culture Recovery Fund, enabling more cultural organisations in England to apply for support during the winter
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.
Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire and member of the Business Select Committee, said:
This further set of measures announced by the Chancellor will be a help to many businesses, but I am worried that the slowdown for some business may push them over the edge.
It is difficult to build a national programme that can see through to the differential impact on Business A, which may be OK, from Business B, for which the Christmas/New Year period was crucial to survival. So I welcome the role of Local Authorities in the programmes as they have better, more local, understanding but I also would like the Chancellor to consider re-opening the Bounce Back Loan scheme, at least for affected businesses that have been set up in the last twelve months.
