Council leader writes to ministers calling for more support for businesses
Telford & Wrekin Council leader Councillor Shaun Davies has written to senior Government ministers to express concern that some local businesses are unable to access national financial support.
The letter has been sent to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak MP and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma MP. It has also been sent to the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street.
It highlights the good work that Telford & Wrekin Council has already done in distributing £23m of the Government business grant support to over 2,000 local businesses and providing a hotline for all local businesses to access information and advice.
This has seen over 3000 businesses make contact and the council is in the top 15 nationwide in terms of the proportion of grants approved, making the council the best performing in the West Midlands.
But Councillor Davies has also flagged up concerns that some businesses are unable to access the support they need through the Government’s existing business interventions.
Councillor Davies’ letter says: “We are hearing from businesses of all sizes and across sectors that there are significant gaps in the current support offer and this is meaning real hardship for many.
“This will ultimately mean not only businesses that will fail and consequent unemployment and damage to the economy but is already leaving local people across our communities struggling to support their families, vulnerable and reliant on public support.
“We ask that the Government consider what further measures can be taken to address the gaps in support outlined below and to do so quickly.”
Specific issues that Councillor Davies is asking ministers to address include cashflow, speed and complexity of loan finance schemes, gaps in business grants particularly for those enterprises in premises which have a rateable value above the government’s defined limit or which do not operate from premises with a rateable value and support for homeworkers and the hospitality industry supply chain, which fall outside the current schemes.
Councillor Davies has also asked for business rate concessions for larger businesses including those in the manufacturing supply chain – a particular issues for Telford and the West Midlands region.
He also highlights that many small businesses are in shared spaces where they are not the ratepayer and unable to benefit from government support.
Councillor Davies added: “We are in unprecedented times and we want to work with Government and our local MPs to ensure that the economy – locally and nationally – remains as resilient as possible and that we do all we can to protect our business base now to aid recovery.
“We ask that the issues raised above are addressed swiftly to provide the necessary tools to achieve this.”
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the council has engaged with over 3,000 local businesses with more continuing to contact the authority’s hotline daily.
The council is providing phone and online access seven days a week to a team of business support officers to advise and proactively support businesses to access the options on offer.
To date the council has received over 2,400 applications for business grants and has already processed 94% of these.
Around 90% of the applications processed have been approved and £23m already distributed.
The council is also working on tailored arrangements to sustain tenants affected by the crisis as well as engaging with major commercial landlords and the housing, community and voluntary sector to support communities.
The letter can be viewed here
