Almost 90 pubs get £1k Christmas support payment

Almost 90 'wet-led' pubs in Tameside have been given £1,000 government grants to make up for lost earnings over the Christmas period.

The Christmas support payment was announced by ministers in addition to five grants which had been previously introduced to support businesses during the pandemic.

A meeting of Tameside’s cabinet was told that ‘wet-led’ pubs that were operating in areas under either Tier 2 or Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions in December were entitled to the grants.

Under the Tier restrictions, pubs were either restricted to only serving alcohol with ‘substantial meals’ or closing, except for takeaway services.

But one councillor said that the belief that a £1k grant would help pubs survive was ‘living in cloud cuckoo land’.

Ilys Cookson, the council’s assistant director of exchequer services said: “It was very specifically for pubs, it was a one-off payment.

“A wet-led pub is a pub that derives less than 50pc of its income from food sales.

“The lump sum payment was a straight £1,000 for pubs which was really to assist them over the Christmas period.

“This hasn’t been specifically dependent on which Tier, or which Covid restriction was in place at the time it was just a flat rate, £1,000 payable.

“We identified originally that there would be about 90 pubs that would qualify, we’ve actually paid 87 of them to date, we have got a couple of queries still outstanding.

“But we believe all eligible pubs at this moment in time have received that payment.”

However Councillor Ged Cooney, cabinet member for employment, criticised the low amount of the grant saying it was part of the ‘dismal performance of this government’.

“We’ve had one of the bars in Droylsden town centre which has been a tremendous asset to the town centre, it’s even had some stickers in the window criticising the government,” he added.

“If it believes that giving these wet houses a thousand pounds will help them survive, it’s living in cloud cuckoo land.

“It hasn’t helped these businesses at all.”

Pubs had to prove they were predominately ‘wet led’ by showing evidence from before March last year, prior to any Covid-19 lockdowns which had impacted their business.

However businesses that opened after March 2020 may also have been eligible if they could prove that they received less than half their income from food sales.

The government guidance states that restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, music venues, hotels, sporting venues and festival sites are excluded from receiving the £1k grant.

Coun Oliver Ryan, cabinet member for finance, said: “We’re doing it as quickly as possible, as efficiently as possible and with as little fraud as possible.”

Main image credit: Joel Rowbottom/CC. 

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