Bassetlaw council leader urges everyone to keep staying home to honour and support key workers

So please, for them and everybody else who has lost their lives to Covid-19, stay at home and keep following the Government guidance.

This week, the council submitted its figures to Government on grant payments to businesses and I am delighted that we have now paid out to just over 80 per cent of those eligible.

Teams are ringing round the remaining businesses, but please, if you still have not provided your details, get in touch with the business rates team as soon as you can.

We have also now implemented the Expanded Retail Discount Scheme (worth about £11.3 million) for the retail leisure and hospitality sector, with 676 businesses now receiving a zero bill for the year.

Whilst I welcome the support package given to business, I am very concerned that there a significant number of local businesses who are above the current thresholds for Government support and who are struggling at this current time.

I am supporting the Raise the Bar Campaign and the North Notts Bid in calling for the scheme to be extended so those businesses with rateable values up to and including £150,000 can qualify.

This would benefit local businesses like the North Notts Arena for example.

Throughout the coronavirus crisis, teams at the council depot have been doing a great job of getting the bins emptied, enabling all collections going.

However, I know that for many people, the closing of the tips has caused some issue, so I welcomed Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s, announcement this week that tips should soon be re-opening.

I hope that the county council will be able to get its socially-distanced household waste recycling centres open again as soon as possible.

With the vast majority of children currently not attending school, I’d like to draw attention to the council’s Townscape Heritage scheme which now has an online teacher resource pack here.

For a look into Worksop’s past, or to help design the high street of the future, there a lots of interesting education resources and activities that can be done at home.

Finally, I am supporting the Royal British Legion’s (RBL) call for the nation to mark 75th anniversary of VE Day from home and pay tribute to the entire World War II generation from British, Commonwealth and Allied Forces, to evacuees and those who served on the home front.

The RBL has a full range of activities that can be accessed here.