East Riding Council’s leader has welcomed plans for a Humber Freeport and other Budget measures as a “shot in the arm” but said coronavirus’ economic impact continues to breed “uncertainty”.
East Riding Council leader Richard Burton said plans for the Freeport at Saltend in yesterday's Budget represented a “vote of confidence” from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
But he added the Budget, which included more financial aid to councils in the wake of the pandemic and lockdown, followed a “very difficult year” for the East Riding’s books.
Cllr Burton’s comments come as the Budget unveiled by Mr Sunak today pledged a further £3bn in support to councils.
It also included £425m in further discretionary funding for councils, a compensation pledge for business rate income losses and extra costs, VAT discounts for tourism companies and £6,000 Restart Grants.
But those announcements also followed news that East Riding Council would face a projected £12.7m black hole in its own Budget by the middle of this decade.
Cllr Burton said that and the prospect of the local economy restarting once lockdown restrictions begin to ease from April meant the East Riding was at a “pivotal moment”.
The leader said:
“I cannot stress enough how challenging this has been, on the wider finances front it’s been a very difficult year.
“The support announced from government will be vital for us to keep delivering our 600 services and to protect the vulnerable.
“But we want to be ambitious for the area, and we believe we can deliver on our ambitions after the Chancellor’s announcements today.
“We’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us with the Freeport, which was the result of a collective bid from the four Humber local authorities.
“It’s great news that we’ve got this vote of confidence, the Freeport is about investment, jobs and promoting local business.
“That and other measures are a real shot in the arm for our area at a time when growth and investment are needed.”
Cllr Burton said aid for the tourism sector and further support for business was “vital”.
He said:
“Tourism supports around 14,000 jobs in the East Riding and generates about £660m, a lot of them in small businesses.“We’re pleased we’ll be able to get more grants out to businesses at a time when so many of them remain closed.
“We’ll carry on doing our utmost to get them out in a timely manner, the government has praised us for the way we’ve handled them so far.
“We want our local economy to bounce back strongly from the pandemic, it’s about giving people and businesses the confidence but as we come out of lockdown we’ll have to be careful and take it steady.
“We’re in unprecedented times, and it’s the uncertainty going forward that concerns me.
“We’ve had almost 12 months of this now but we’re in a better place now than we were at the beginning.
“Our own finances are being tested and challenged, even so we were able to avoid a full increase in council tax to help support hard working families.
“This is a public health crisis but it’s also an economic crisis, there’s uncertainty ahead but we’re in a good position and my optimism is growing.”
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