Finance minister Rishi Sunak said he was confident the
measures would help hundreds of thousands of businesses.
But he added that he would “respond proportionately and
appropriately” if the government were to impose further restrictions to slow
Omicron, which would further hit the economy.
Under the support announced on Tuesday, hospitality and
leisure firms in England will be eligible for grants of up to £6,000 for each
of their premises, accounting for almost £700 million of the new package.
The grants were equivalent to those provided to hospitality
businesses when they were fully closed earlier this year, the finance ministry
said.
A fund to support cultural organisations would be increased
by £30 million, while £100 million would be provided to English local authorities
for business support measures and £150 million to governments in Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland.
The ministry also said it would cover the cost of statutory
sick pay for COVID-related absences, for up to two weeks per employee, for
small and medium-sized employers across the United Kingdom.
Britain borrowed more than 300 billion pounds in the last
financial year to help it offset the hit to the economy from coronavirus and
the government’s lockdowns.
“Of course I will always respond proportionately and
appropriately to the situation that we face, people can have confidence in
that,” Sunak said when asked by a reporter if there would be more help for
businesses in the event of further restrictions.
Asked about the likelihood of more restrictions, Sunak said
the situation was too uncertain to know the path ahead.
“What the prime minister said is that we’re reviewing the
data day by day, hour by hour, keeping the situation under constant review but
can’t rule anything out,” he said.
Johnson said on Monday he was looking at all kinds of
measures to keep Omicron under control, cautioning that further restrictions
might be needed. read more
Figures from trade body UKHospitality published on Monday
showed a 40% fall in takings over the weekend and deep gloom about the
prospects for New Year’s Eve. read more
“This is a generous package building on existing hospitality
support measures to provide an immediate emergency cash injection for those
businesses who, through no fault of their own, have seen their most valuable
trading period annihilated,” UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said.
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