Tier 2 lockdown: Chancellor Increased Financial Support and announced monthly grant scheme for affected businesses
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £2,100-a-month grant to hospitality, accommodation and leisure businesses as part of a £13bn package to help the economy of areas under tier 2 coronavirus restrictions.
But he was accused by Labour of coming to the aid of companies in localised lockdowns only after London entered tier 2.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said he was “open-mouthed” to see the package after months in which his city – along with areas like Merseyside, the West Midlands, the northeast and parts of Yorkshire – was subjected to local restrictions.
The grants, backdated to August, will go to up to 150,000 businesses in England, including hotels, restaurants, B&Bs which are not legally required to close but have lost business because of localised restrictions.
Chancellor Increased Financial Support and also doubled the value of upcoming grants for the self-employed from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of average profits, increasing their maximum value from £1,875 to £3,750.
And he reduced from 33 per cent to 5 per cent the minimum employer’s contribution to the wages of staff unable to work full-time, also cutting the minimum requirement from 33 per cent to 20 per cent of normal hours, so those working just one day a week will be eligible.
For someone being paid £587 for unworked hours, the government would be contributing £543 and their employer only £44.
The Treasury declined to put a precise figure on the total cost of the support, which will depend on how long restrictions last and the level of take-up.
But with the changes to the job support scheme expected to cost £1bn a month for every 200 million applicants, support for the self-employed increasing by £3.1bn and additional grants to businesses likely to cost around £200m a month, the total bill is thought likely to reach around £13bn if it runs for six months.
Mr Sunak said the action was being taken in response to “profound economic uncertainty” experienced by companies in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors whose business has been hit but who have been unable to access support available to those in tier 3 who have been legally required to close.
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