Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £1bn support package for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors that are being hit hard by the “eye-wateringly high” transmission of the Omicron variant.
The move follows days of urgent campaigning from business leaders and politicians as the industry has faced waves of cancellations and with Government advice recommending people limit their social activities as Covid continues to spread across the 海角视频.
The package has won a mixed reception from business leaders, with some acknowledging it as a positive start but others saying it does not go far enough.
The support today includes one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for businesses in the affected sectors in England. The Treasury expects that funding will be administered by local authorities and to be available in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile the Government also intends to use taxpayers’ cash to cover the cost of statutory sick pay for Covid-related absences for firms with fewer than 250 employees.
And the Treasury said cultural organisations in England could also expect to access another £30m in funding during the winter via the culture recovery fund.
Businesses have seen takings plummet at this crucial time of year due to Christmas festivities being scaled back, and there remains much uncertainty about what will happen in the New Year.
Earlier Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the global charitable foundation Wellcome, warned “we’re in the most difficult, most uncertain time, perhaps of the whole pandemic, certainly since March of 2020”.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of the new funding: “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.”
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Mr Sunak added: “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.”
The Treasury said the extra support builds on existing schemes in place to assist businesses.
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It added that the devolved administrations will receive around £150m of funding through the Barnett formula as part of the support announced. This includes around £80m for the Scottish Government, £50m for the Welsh Government and £25m for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Kate Nicholls, 海角视频Hospitality CEO, said: “This is a generous package building on existing hospitality support measures to provide an immediate emergency cash injection for those businesses who, through no fault of their own, have seen their most valuable trading period annihilated.
“It will help to secure jobs and business viability in the short term, particularly among small businesses in the sector, and we particularly welcome the boost to funds for the supply chain and event and business catering companies so badly affected by the reintroduction of work from home guidelines.
“It is a generous top up emergency fund in addition to previous support and with a commitment from Ministers to prioritise hospitality and its supply chain in allocation of funds. There is now a real urgency in getting this funding to businesses so we urge local authorities to prioritise distribution of funds to make sure jobs and businesses are preserved through this difficult period.”
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "These measures will provide some welcome respite to many of those businesses who have been hit hardest by the latest Covid measures.
"The Chancellor and his team have engaged with us in talks over the past week, considered the experiences of Chamber business communities and the proposals we put to them.
"We are pleased that 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. Clarity and speed will be needed to ensure that these grants are paid out swiftly to help these hard-pressed firms weather the next few weeks.
"Whilst these measures are a positive starting point, if restrictions persist or are tightened further, then we would need to see a wider support package, equal to the scale of any new measures, put in place."
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) National Chairman Mike Cherry said: "These positive measures will help alleviate the intense pressures that small firms are currently under, and hopefully arrest a significant decline in confidence over this year.
"With the prospect of one million people sick or self-isolating by January, we encouraged the Chancellor to bring back the COVID statutory sick pay rebate – we’re pleased to see our recommendation taken forward today.
"This move will reduce stress for small employers up and down the country, helping those who are struggling most with depleted cashflow. It’s vital that small firms – once again up against a massively disrupted festive season – can reclaim the costs of supporting staff.
"The Government has also rightly taken forward other aspects of our ten-point plan, with £1bn worth of grant support for the hardest-hit sectors in England, alongside accelerated delivery of the £1.5bn business rates relief fund for supply chains launched months ago.
"The encouragement of HMRC to give as much breathing space as possible to small firms as we head towards tax return season will also come as a relief to many.
"We’ve always said that support needs to move in lockstep with restrictions, and this intervention will help give small businesses confidence that this is the approach the Government will be taking.”
National Chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, Nik Antona, said: "Today’s announcement of grants of up to £6,000 and some help with staff sick pay will certainly be welcomed by publicans up and down the country.
"It is a first step in the right direction – and important recognition from ministers that the actions of government have massively hit consumer confidence, footfall and the ability for businesses to turn a profit at what should be their busiest time of the year.
“Sadly for some pubs that have already closed their doors due to cancellations and a huge drop in trade, this support will be too late. Whilst the grants announced today may help businesses through the next few weeks, it will not make up for losing out on the Christmas trade which is vital for keeping pubs and breweries going during the quiet months at the start of the year.
“In addition to getting these grants paid to licensees as quickly as possible, it is vital that local councils in England use their discretionary funding to support breweries, cider producers and other businesses in the supply chain who have also been affected.
“Businesses still desperately need certainty on what might happen next. If further restrictions are going to be imposed there needs to be enough time for pubs and breweries to plan and prepare. In the face of any restrictions on trading, the sector will also need a comprehensive support package over and above what has been announced today, including further employment support through furlough, rent support and business rate relief to support and safeguard our locals.”
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said newly-announced support for the culture sector was “far too little” and “borders on the insulting”.
He said: “Businesses are failing, people are losing their livelihoods and the industry is crippled.
“Mixed messaging, coupled with additional restrictions, have had a catastrophic impact on our sector over the last two weeks.
“At this critical point, we need strong leadership and a clear pathway from Government with a long-term strategy for new Covid variants.
“The open/close strategy is crucifying businesses. Every pound of help is much needed. But this package is far too little and borders on the insulting.”
Manchester's night-time economy adviser Sacha Lord tweeted today: "It’s not a package. It’s an insult."
Unite the Union also called for more support.
Dave Turnbull, Unite national officer for the hospitality sector, said: “This funding may well be too late and is far too little to save many in the hospitality sector.
“For too many, the lockdown by stealth has wiped out this season and the future looks extremely uncertain. This must not be the last word from Rishi Sunak and the government on this matter. We need to hear that there will be more support to pay workers’ wages.”