Covid-19: Calls for the Prime Minister to help struggling Cornish businesses
Cornwall Council has written to Boris Johnson asking for more support
There are fresh calls for the Prime Minister to 'cut through red tape' and help businesses in Cornwall.
Cornwall Council and business leaders have written to Boris Johnson, asking for more support for those badly affected by coronavirus restrictions.
They want the government to increase funding for the discretionary business support scheme, saying there are over 3,000 Cornish businesses still unable to access any other form of coronavirus grant support.
“I’ve written to the Prime Minister to ask him to cut through the red tape and allow Cornwall Council to use the ring-fenced £31 million which was allocated to Cornwall for the original Small Businesses Grant scheme, but which has not been claimed.
“The money is just sitting there when we have 3,000 businesses who do not meet the criteria for a Small Business Grant but are in desperate need of support. We want to use that £31 million to give them a lifeline through the local authority discretionary business support scheme which could make the difference between survival and going to the wall.
“We recognise that the government’s funding packages have provided a lifeline to many businesses, but there is more to do, and we want to be allowed to use that money from the original scheme to make the difference.”
Julian German, leader of Cornwall Council
Councillor German sets out a stark picture in his letter to the Prime Minister, adding: “The visitor economy in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Devon, Somerset and Dorset – the largest single visitor region outside of London in the UK – is facing a decline in business turnover of 56%, at an estimated loss of £2.2 billion. Only 30% of businesses anticipate that they will survive beyond summer 2021. We are grateful for the support to date, but there are many more businesses in Cornwall who need help if the survival rate is to increase.”
The direct appeal to the Prime Minister follows an earlier letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.