The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has today announced a further £1bn of funding for businesses affected by the Omicron variant of Covid-19. 

The package which will comprise of one-off grants will be of use to the leisure and hospitality sector who have suffered from a high level of cancellations and a reduction in customer foot-fall since the Government implemented their Covid 'Plan B'. 

Sunak said that the around 200,000 businesses will be eligible for business grants which will be administered by local authorities and will be available in the coming weeks.

• Businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises, plus more than £100 million discretionary funding will be made available for local authorities to support other businesses
• The Government will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for SME employers (with fewer than 250 employees) across the UK
• £30 million further funding will be made available through the Culture Recovery Fund, enabling more cultural organisations in England to apply for support during the winter.