Council calls for 'vital' £4m from Government to manage local lockdown - including £1.6m for Hartlepool businesses

The local authority is asking for up to £4 million following the announcement last week of local lockdown measures including a ban on people from different households meeting or socialising indoors including home gardens.

As part of the funding request, the council is asking for £1.6 million to support local businesses, particularly the night time economy, which it fears might otherwise be forced out of existence.

Leader of the council Councillor Shane Moore said: “Since the announcement of the much stricter than anticipated restrictions I have been contacted by a number of business owners – some of whom have been in tears – to say that they may have no option but to close. Indeed, some have already announced that they are closing.

“We are calling on the Government to acknowledge the impact of these stricter Covid-19 restrictions and to provide financial support to protect local businesses and safeguard the vital jobs that they support.”

The council says the funding would be used to provide small grants to businesses to help them become Covid-secure, introduce Covid marshals and provide police with greater resources to target those that don’t comply.

It would also be used to increase the capacity of the council’s environmental health and public health teams, support managed care home visits, enhanced Test and Trace, provide temporary homeless and asylum seeker accommodation.

And it would allow the council’s Community Support Hub for six months to provide further support to vulnerable people self-isolating or shielding.

Councillor Moore added: “It really is vital that the Government acts without delay and provides us with the additional funding and tools required to tackle the serious situation that we find ourselves in.

"It can also help – and this has no cost attached to it – by providing us with a clear pathway out of these additional restrictions.

"If we know when we might be able to exit the controls, I think we will be more easily able to carry members of the public along with us and achieve compliance with the current restrictions.”

The council asked the Government for tighter controls but said those imposed go much further than they wanted.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Hartlepool Mail website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here.

Thank you.