UK Chancellor Unveils £4.6bn Fund to Support Businesses Hit by Third Lockdown

UK Chancellor of Exchequer, Rishi Sunak has announced a new £4.6 billion support package to help businesses hit by the third lockdown.

It includes one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring, along with a £594m discretionary fund also made available to support other impacted businesses

Business support is a devolved policy and therefore the responsibility of the devolved administrations, with the Scottish Government receiving £375m.

The support comes in addition to £1.1bn further discretionary grant funding for local authorities, with Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month and an extension of furlough scheme.

On Monday England imposed a national lockdown to prevent the health service from being overwhelmed by soaring coronavirus infections and is expected to remain in place until at least February 22nd, with measures to be reviewed during half-term week. People can only leave their homes to shop for essentials, work if they can’t from home, exercise, go to the doctor’s and escape domestic abuse. Also, primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will move to remote learning Tuesday, except in rare cases. On Monday, the UK reported 58,784 new Covid-19 cases, the most since the pandemic started and announced 407 virus-related deaths.

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