The Federation of Small Businesses has urged local authorities to do more to distribute £1.5bn of unspent COVID-19 small business grants. Research by the FSB has found that 7% of councils have issued all of the funding allocated to them. National chair Mike Cherry commented: “Every local authority will know that long before this crisis struck, small firms were already facing huge difficulties with major chains leaving high streets, rising business rates and soaring employment costs. This is why councils simply cannot afford to delay in getting these funds out to businesses. Many councils have already handed out more than 90% of their small business grants which is good to see, but that means that more money remains which needs to be handed out.”
Read more: BBC News
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