Shops in Sefton Borough will be getting a £244,000 share of a new £50 million European fund to boost recovery of our high streets.
The ‘Reopening High Streets Safely’ Fund will help local councils introduce a range of safety measures to help get people back to work and customers back to the shops. This new money will support practical measures so businesses can re-open quickly when they are allowed to, staff get back to work and customers return to shops confident it is safe.
The practical safety measures include new signs, street markings and temporary barriers. This will help get businesses get ready for when they can begin trading safely, not only in high streets and town and city centres, but also in other public spaces like beach fronts and promenades.
Councils will also be allowed to use some of this cash to develop local marketing campaigns to explain the changes to the public and reassure them that their high streets and other commercial areas are safe.
The government hopes to reopen non-essential retail in a phased way from 1st June, subject to advice which it may accept or ignore. High streets are critical to the economic recovery of British towns and cities.This new fund builds on longer-term funds already in place to support their revival and boost their economic fortunes including the Future High Streets Fund and Towns Funds.
The £50 million funding comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It is additional to the £3.2 billion package of support announced for councils recently to help them deal with the immediate pressures they are facing. To help retailers, there are also temporary measures to safeguard the UK high street against aggressive debt recovery actions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The government has published COVID-secure guidelines for people work in or run shops and stores. This guidance supports shops already open and will also now be useful for people involved in non-essential retail for when they are allowed to open.
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