Political leaders in Liverpool City Region have demanded financial support for businesses hit hard by the impact of the Omicron variant.
Businesses across the UK have been hit by cancellations and staff shortages as the virus has spread and as people have heeded warnings from Government to limit their socialising.
Hospitality and retail businesses have called for support to get them through the vital festive season, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak is returning early from the USA to continue talking to business leaders. Now Liverpool City Region's political leaders have written an open letter to Mr Sunak to ask for aid for business.
They say they are worried about the health impacts of the virus but also about the "potential economic detriment too" due to its high transmissibility.
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And they say: "While we support restrictions to help slow that spread, we feel the situation is something of a halfway house. The restrictions – and your government’s own advice – mean people are staying home, while the lack of financial support means that businesses up and down the country are forced to pay the price."
The letter has been signed by Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson, Halton council leader Cllr Mike Wharton, Knowsley council leader Cllr Graham Morgan, Sefton council leader Cllr Ian Maher, St Helens council leader Cllr David Baines, Leader, and Wirral council leader Cllr Janette Williamson.
The leaders say the city region's visitor economy - worth an estimated £4.9bn annually - is particularly at risk from Omicron after-effects, and say many businesses have only survived thanks to local and national support.
They say: "As you will know, uncertainty can be fatal for businesses big or small. The current situation means that many local shops, bars and restaurants are heading into the Christmas period, the busiest and most profitable time of the year for many, facing uncertainty on all sides, ranging from staff shortages and late cancellations, to ordering stock when potential future restrictions are unclear. This, in turn, has knock on effects for other trades, like our region’s service industries and taxi drivers.
"The confusion sown by asking people to “think carefully” about their actions while allowing hospitality to stay open is proving damaging to many businesses. People are rightly worried about the threat of Omicron, which is in turn leading to high numbers of cancellations and significant losses in expected earnings with nothing to cover the shortfalls.
"Hospitality staff across the country, a great number of whom work unsecure hours and are among the lowest paid, have had many thousands of hours of shifts cut as a result. Even those not hit by cancellations find themselves struggling to find enough staff to open thanks to rapid transmission of this new variant."
The leaders say they have been contacted by "countless" small businesses.
And they say: "We cannot afford to reverse the progress we were making pre-pandemic when we were the fastest growing city region in the country.
"That is why we are calling on you to step up, as you did at the start of the pandemic, to give struggling businesses and workers a lifeline.
"We need a package of support to be brought forward quickly to assist all of the sectors affected by the knock-on effect of restrictions – including support for staff hit by a loss of earnings or employment during the festive period.
"The current Test and Trace Support Payments remain inadequate and, as research shows, is an impediment to people getting tested and self-isolating.
"Please act now. Countless businesses up and down the country are relying on you."
