Council to hand out cash grants
Sunderland City Council will take responsibility for distributing Government funding to help businesses cope with the impact of the omicron Covid variant.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a£1bn support package which includes two schemes to be administered by local authorities.
Eligible businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors will be able to access oneoff grants of up to £6,000 per premises.
To support other businesses – such as hospitality and leisure suppliers–the Government is also giving a further boost to the Additional Restrictions Grant( ARG)fundf or local authorities in England.
During 2021, Sunderland City Council received more than £9 million in ARG funding,of which less than £45,000 is still available to allocate. The Government has advised that the ARG top up will be prioritised for those authorities that have distributed the most of their existing allocation.
The council is now awaiting guidance from the Government and confirmation of Sunderland’s new ARG allocation before providing further information on how funding will be administered and businesses can access support.
Peter McIntyre, Executive Director of City Development at Sunderland City Council, said: “Businesses across the city have faced extreme challenges and uncertainty since the start of the pandemic.
"When support was available, we worked tirelessly to ensurefunding was distributed to provide a lifeline to city businesses as quickly as possible.
"We recognise the challenges now faced by businesses – that will inevitably hit our hospitality and leisure businesses hardest – and we will continue to work hard to ensure that, as soon as we have the guidance and funding allocation from Government, we can get to work ensuring this additional funding is allocated to eligible Sunderland businesses as quickly as possible.”
The Government has also announced it will reintroduce the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme, meaning businesses with fewer than 250 employees can claim back the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covidrelated absences, for up to two weeks per employee.
A further £30 million will also be made available through the existing Culture Recovery Fund for cultural organisations across England.
Details can be found at https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/ covid-19business