Don’t Forget Excluded Businesses Plea

Responding to the Prime Minister's announcement on fully reopening the economy, Bromsgrove Lib Dems have issued a plea not to forget about excluded businesses. Hundreds of Bromsgrove businesses have been unable to access support, despite the severe impact on trading over the last 16 months.

Bromsgrove District Council has handed out £33 million in business support grants since the beginning of the pandemic, and yet since November 2020, over 400 businesses in the district have been rejected from accessing support. Now the Lib Dem Group are calling for greater scrutiny of the reasons why, and a clearer appeals process for those who have missed out.

Bromsgrove Lib Dem Leader Cllr Rob Hunter said "Our hard-working council officers have done a fantastic job in incredibly difficult circumstances. Without any additional staff, they have taken on a new role and supported more than a thousand businesses to keep afloat during the most difficult months of the pandemic, helping to save countless local jobs.'

"However, there are still far too many businesses that have been unable to access the support they need and these still face an uncertain future. This is because of arbitrary policies set by central Government which are leaving local businesses short. We must leave no stone unturned in our efforts to protect local jobs. We are not out of the woods yet."

The Lib Dem group is seeking action to helped excluded businesses through a motion to next week's Bromsgrove District Council meeting on Wednesday 14 July. This will be the first in person full council meeting since the pandemic began. The motion seeks cross party support for greater scrutiny of the reasons why businesses have been rejected and further action to make it easier for rejected businesses to appeal.

The campaign group Excluded UK this week warned the Government that many livelihoods and businesses are still at stake with 3 million taxpayers unable to access support nationally, many facing mounting debts.