“Cornwall Council alongside the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership will do all that it can to support our residents and businesses and to help mitigate the effects of Coronavirus,” Cornwall Council leader Julian German told cabinet today.
“We know that Cornwall is a place that pulls together, and I ask everyone in every community to support each other and work together through the coming months.
“Whilst the advice from Government is aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus and reducing demand on health services, Cornwall Council and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership are acutely aware that the restrictions put in place are having a significant impact on businesses.
“I welcome the Government’s announcements that support will be available through loans, business rate relief and grants, and await more details about how those plans will affect people here in Cornwall. We urge government to make that information available as soon as possible.
“We know also that this public health crisis will mean financial hardship to many of our residents if the businesses who employ them are severely impacted. The Government needs to bring forward proposals for helping those residents who will find themselves in financial hardship as a matter of urgency.”
Chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Mark Duddridge, added: “We should not underestimate the pressure businesses are under and whilst we welcome the Government’s announcements that support to businesses will be forthcoming through loans, business rate relief and grants, we need to make sure that the scale of the support matches the scale of the challenges businesses are facing and that the support available focuses on both ensuring businesses and individuals are supported through the crisis.
“We are committed to listening to business and are already working with representative organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Business and Visit Cornwall to understand the challenges the business community are facing.
“We will continue to work in partnership to do all we can to support our business community. Our immediate focus is to get business support schemes up and running as quickly as possible and to signpost businesses to the right business support and application processes, however, it may take a short period to be able to provide clarity on all the support available.”
Up to date information for businesses from both Cornwall Council and national government will be available through the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub.
