Good news at the end of last week as Holyrood Street in Chard was reopened following the temporary closure to encourage social distancing measures. Although well intentioned, this led to some shop owners reporting a 50% fall in customers as people thought they were closed or could not get there easily. Following my recent visit there and speaking to shop owners I wrote to the Council about it, as I know many other concerned local people did, and it’s great news that the road is now open for business as usual.
However, I still want to see our Councils trying measures designed to support our businesses and local economy. Pedestrianisation may work for some areas but equally let’s trial some free parking, improved bike racks and other ways to make that trip to the shops a little bit more convenient. Things have been put back because of the coronavirus restrictions but we need to bounce back and we need some really positive forward thinking to make it happen.
On the subject of businesses during the lockdown, the Treasury has just released figures of the Government support given by area and the figures for Yeovil are pretty impressive. Nearly 15000 jobs here have been protected by the furlough scheme and £12 million has been paid out for self-employed people unable to work. Added to just under £34 million of low interest loans to small businesses and £23.5 million in business grants and it has been a huge effort to protect our local economy from the measures needed to get the virus under control.
Sadly not every job will be saved and it is not possible to get everyone help in the way they would like. I know that it has been tough on new parents who have not been able to access the support networks such as playgroups usually available and may have been home-schooling older siblings as well. It is also hard for young people hoping to go to university or looking for that first great job on the career ladder.
We want to look back on this time and think we did the best we could. We are learning more all the time about the virus and we could not have been fully prepared for it. An area in which I am more certain than ever we need to do better is in properly caring for children with Special Educational Needs. Even before the pandemic too often parents felt like every stage of getting the right care was a battle. During the lockdown it was impossible. Assessments had to be cancelled, plans were not put in place and families were left to drift. New school places are being created with specialist help but we need to act now. There are children whose lives could be changed forever with the right help at the right time and I think this is one of the most important issues facing us as a country right now. As always, if you would like to get in touch please do email Marcus.Fysh.MP@parliament.uk or call 01935314321.