Two new leadership programmes to help small business leaders grow their companies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic have been launched today (3 August).

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Millions of new rapid coronavirus tests will be rolled out across NHS hospitals, care homes and labs from next week.

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Local charities and good causes can apply for funding from one of four trusts funded by players of People's Postcode Lottery. Applications are open from Tuesday 4th August until Wednesday 19th August. Organisations can apply for grants between £500 and £20,000. 

Further details of how jobs will be protected through the government’s new Job Retention Bonus were unveiled by HMRC today.

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This is a critically important time for local democracy in Somerset. I started in politics as a District and then County Councillor and now as an MP I am still very aware that local authorities are hugely important to people’s lives.

Furloughed employees who are then made redundant will receive redundancy pay based on their normal wage, under new laws being brought in today (Thursday 30 July).

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Changes to state aid rules as a result of UK Government and industry lobbying mean that more small businesses can now benefit from loans of up to £5 million under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), it was announced today (30th July 2020).

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Thousands of smaller businesses in England are set to benefit from £20 million of new government funding to help them recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government has today (30 July 2020) announced.

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This week started with the welcome news that many of our public sector workers, who have been at the forefront of our battle with coronavirus, will be getting a pay rise. It includes our teachers, police, doctors and dentists and is no more than they deserve; we wish it could be more.

Up to 3,000 new school places are to be created for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), providing tailored support and specialist equipment, with 500 new places in South West.

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