West Yorkshire council leaders call on Government for more financial help to deal with Covid pandemic

The letter calls on the Government for a package of support to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect jobs and businesses in line with the region’s ‘Tier Two’ (High Risk) status.

It asks for grants of up to £5,000 every three weeks for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses that have lost at least 25 per cent of their income

It also asks for the continuation of furlough with Government contributing to wages - a measure that could support 113,000 jobs - and £3.7 million to support the expansion of the COVID Recovery Grants Scheme to support businesses to reopening and adapting

In a joint statement, the Leaders of West Yorkshire Councils said: “Although we have avoided ‘Tier Three’ (Very High Risk) status at this moment, we are far from complacent. Efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic must be locally-led and properly funded so that we can carry out the local contact-tracing and deep community engagement that national approaches cannot deliver.

“This must be supported by a comprehensive package of measures that sustains businesses and protects jobs until restrictions can be lifted, so that the progress we have made in improving the standards of living for our communities is not lost.

“We need Government to urgently respond so that we can address the rising infection rates that are putting our NHS services under increasing pressure, and to avoid the additional damage to the West Yorkshire economy that would be caused by moving into “Very High” risk restrictions.”

The letter was signed by; Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council and Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Coun Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, Coun Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, Coun Denise Jeffery, Leader of Wakefield Council and Coun Tim Swift, Leader of Calderdale Council.