Coronavirus

355 businesses and nearly 1,700 jobs saved by extra funding

355 small businesses in Plymouth, including local charities, B&Bs, nurseries and fishers, have been given a much-needed lifeline with funding from the Discretionary Grant Fund.

As part of the Plymouth City Council’s acute response for Resurgam, the city’s economic recovery plan, the grants were all allocated and paid out within a month, with the final payments being made this week. Thanks to the quick work of the Council almost 1,700 jobs have been protected through this grant scheme.

Misleading stories about COVID-19 cases in Plymouth

There are a number of incorrect national media stories suggesting Plymouth is seeing a significant rise in cases of COVID-19 and the city is therefore at risk of having a local lockdown.

Dr Ruth Harrell, Director of Public Health for Plymouth, said: “Although we do continue to have cases of coronavirus in Plymouth, we are not currently seeing a significant increase and the numbers are low compared to many other areas.

Plymouth goes large in 2021 with impressive event programme

Plymouth is bouncing back in 2021 with fresh plans for a year of events and activities starting from the exact date the Mayflower ship set sail 400 years ago.

A brilliant line-up including signature Mayflower 400 commemoration and city events will re-energise Plymouth next year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, major events planned for the city this summer have been cancelled, including the British Firework Championships, the Ocean City Blues ‘n Jazz Festival and Mayflower Week.

An update on our Discretionary Grant Fund scheme

Last week (1 June) we launched our Discretionary Grant Fund scheme for Plymouth. One week on, as expected, we’ve seen high demand.

Plymouth has been given just £2.27million for this scheme, which we believe to be just 50% of what is actually needed to support businesses in our city. This means that we’re following the very strict criteria set out by Government to prioritise applications from the five priority categories, which in Plymouth includes boat based businesses.

Emergency funding bid to support walking and cycling

We have submitted a £249,000 bid to the Department for Transport’s Emergency Active Travel Fund for a package of measures to support walking and cycling as part of our COVID-19 recovery plans.

If approved, the funding will be used to create a temporary, segregated cycling link through the city centre, from the railway station, through North Cross and Armada Way, to a new pop-up cycle parking facility outside the Guildhall.

New business grant announced for small businesses impacted by COVID-19

Small businesses in Plymouth can apply for a new Government Discretionary Grant from Monday 1 June.

The scheme, administered by Plymouth City Council, will help small businesses with less than 50 employees that have not been eligible for other grant funding (with the exception of the furloughed Job Retention Scheme and the Self Employment Income Support Scheme) and who were trading on 11 March 2020.

Council leader calls for rethink on Plymouth’s Covid-19 funding

Plymouth City Council leader Tudor Evans is calling for the Government to re-think its announcement of a 14 per cent cut to the city’s Covid-19 funding.

Plymouth’s latest allocation towards Covid-19 costs announced last night is 14 per cent less than its previous allocation, despite increasing demands to support some of the city’s most vulnerable residents at the same time as the council has lost many of its other sources of income.

Shop 4 Plymouth: New online marketplace links you with local retailers

Shop local, support independent retailers and buy everything you need – from food and drink to gifts from the safety of your home.

A new online marketplace is making it easy to do just that. Shop 4 Plymouth showcases local traders that are open and following Government guidelines or which have adapted to offer a delivery service instead.