West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles, met with the Regional Recovery Taskforce last week to discuss the impact of new Covid-19 restrictions.

“The work we have done as a taskforce over the last six months means we have a clear Regional Recovery Plan in place, that builds on the strengths of our region and addresses some of the challenges we face as the pandemic continues,” he said.

“The West of England Combined Authority has a range of support for businesses and residents impacted by the pandemic. We have worked with thousands of businesses this year, helping them with everything from improving their online trading to retraining employees.

“We have also committed £9.4m to implementing the Regional Recovery Plan – in addition to the £100m already allocated to businesses and skills over the next four years.”

Steve West, Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and Vice Chair of the Taskforce, said: “We’re working together to act quickly to ensure additional support coming from Government – which will be about £23m – is used to the maximum benefit. Our immediate focus is on ensuring that people don’t fall between gaps in support and fall into crisis.

“We need to ensure our region’s businesses get the help that they need to survive the ongoing impact of Covid-19 and keep people in jobs. We then have to think about the region’s skills needs in the future.”