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County Cllr urges Government to extend support for businesses faced with extended Covid restrictions

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cllr julie gibson
Cllr Julie Gibson

Skelmersdale West County Cllr Julie Gibson, the Lancashire Labour Group Shadow Cabinet Member for Economic Development has echoed calls for national Government to extend support for businesses who have now been told it will be the middle of July before they can fully open.

Cllr Gibson said: “The Prime Minister announced last week that COVID restrictions will not be lifted further on June 21st, as originally planned in the Government’s ‘road map’. This has proved to be a major blow to many businesses who were hoping to open fully again on 21st June and without financial support to accompany this delay in re-opening many businesses may find themselves unable to open at all.”

“It is a hard pill to swallow after so long living under restrictions and a bitter pill for the many businesses in West Lancashire who now face continued restrictions. I do worry how industries such as hospitality and leisure will cope after being repeatedly told that there would be no ‘rolling back’ of the road map.”

She continued: “I do accept the announcement that the lifting of restrictions has had to be paused but make no mistake this is due to the dithering and incompetence of the Tory Government which allowed the Delta variant to take hold in the way it has – we are now seeing the effect of this on our local businesses and our night-time economy.

Cllr Gibson said: “I would urge businesses who are struggling, to get in touch with their local authority’s business support teams who have a range of resources and financial packages to help them deal with this delay.

But I would also remind the Government not to forget the many workers in these industries. Furlough needs to be extended and more support needs to be offered to ensure that these workers are not out of pocket due to the Government’s dithering and delay and its total mismanagement of this latest phase of the pandemic.”

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