Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to unveil new support for workers and firms hit by restrictions imposed as coronavirus cases rise across the UK.
He is due to update the Job Support Scheme, which replaces furlough in November, in the Commons on 22nd October. Critics say not enough is being done for firms in tier two areas that have seen demand collapse without being formally required to shut.
In tier three areas, firms ordered to shut get emergency support. Talks were held throughout Wednesday, with the government said to have acknowledged that while there are three tiers of alert level – medium, high, and very high – there are only two tiers of support.
Businesses in tier two areas, particularly in the hospitality sector, have complained that they would be better off if they were under tier three restrictions. They argue that although they would be forced to close, they would benefit from greater government support.
Top London-based chef Yotam Ottolenghi said conditions for his restaurants were “terrible”. “We are on our knees now,” he told the BBC. “We just don’t have customers coming through the door.”
He said that before tier two restrictions were imposed in London, his restaurants were operating at 50% of capacity, but that this had now fallen to between 10% and 20%.
“This is just not a viable place for a restaurant to be,” he said, describing tier two as a “cursed” category that “deprives us of oxygen”.
In tier three areas, the government will pay 67% of affected workers’ wages, up to £2,100 a month, from 1 November (“lockdown Job Support Scheme” in the chart below). Some workers can also claim Universal Credit.
But in tier two regions, the only help available will be the standard JSS (“part-time Job Support Scheme” in the chart below), which is more costly for employers.
Business groups and unions say this means many firms will not be able to use it and will have to lay off workers instead.
The chancellor’s spokesperson said: “What we have always said is that our package of support is always flexible, and always up for review, to make sure that it is dealing with the situation as it evolves.”
Areas in tier two – the second-highest risk level – include London, Essex, much of the West Midlands, Leicester, Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, West Yorkshire and north-east England.
Coventry is to move to tier two Covid restrictions from midnight on 23 October, the city council has said. In addition to national restrictions meaning pubs and restaurants must close by 22:00, people in tier two areas are banned from mixing with other households indoors – hammering demand in many leisure industries.
Key Conservative figures, such as West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, have been critical of the disparities, along with a raft of Labour local leaders and MPs.
Source: bbc.com
