Call for 'targeted furloughing' and scrapping of business rates
A call has been made for a seven-step plan including targeted furloughing and a scrapping of business rates to help save the economy.
Councillor Elwyn Vaughan, leader of Plaid Cymru in Powys, suggested the measures in response to Chancellor Rishi Sunak's £30bn financial announcement last week which included cuts to VAT on certain hospitality businesses and bonuses for firms to retain furloughed staff.
Councillor Vaughan believes the council and Welsh government must ensure support for the self-employed, limited company directors and sole traders that have fallen through the gaps for financial help, create targeted furlough support for the hospitality sector to help businesses get through the winter, restructure business rates and scrap it in some cases, allow free parking in Powys County Council car parks for two hours, get the local authority to purchase locally, attract Welsh home-grown talent that has left to return home and support businesses in getting insurance companies to pay their claims.
He said: "There are key steps that could and need to be taken to support businesses and the local economy. The reality is that it’s small businesses that are the backbone of our communities, with Powys having nearly 27 per cent self employed, practical measures that support them will also prove of benefit indirectly to all of us in Powys.”
