Responding to the Chancellor’s announcement that the Job Support Scheme will be enhanced to help UK firms that will have to close due to tighter restrictions expected next week, and cash grants will be increased, Business West Managing Director Phil Smith said:
“The enhanced Job Support Scheme will provide some much-needed additional relief for businesses forced to close due to COVID-19 restrictions. We particularly welcome that this support will be available to all mandatorily closed businesses, including those in the West Country, and not just confined to those parts of England which are facing second lockdowns.
“It is right that the Chancellor has responded to our long-standing calls for more local support. More generous cash grants will be of some help, but for most this will not be enough to offset a sustained cash crunch.
“As welcome as this new support will be for companies shut down by government decree, COVID-19 restrictions are still having a material impact on many other firms, especially in supply chains and in town and city centres. Their cash flow concerns, and worries about future demand, must be heeded. Many will now have run low on previous packages of government support or may have received very limited support in the first instance. Much will depend on the details that follow this announcement.
“At the end of the day, no fiscal support will ever be a substitute for an open, functioning economy. While the Chancellor deserves thanks for enhancing the support on offer, the goal of all governments across the UK must be to get to a point where wide-ranging restrictions, and the economic disruption they bring, are no longer needed.”
Your Comments
Be the first to comment on this article
Login or Register to post a comment on this article