Barnsley Council’s plan to recover economy post pandemic as Barnsley is “hit harder”

Plans have been laid out to help Barnsley economically recover from the Covid-19 pandemic – which has seen 1,350 redundancies and £42.7m of small business rates relief grants given to businesses.
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BMBC’s economic renewal action plan has been drawn up in response to the government’s “roadmap” out of national lockdown.

The plan states: “Any social or economic crisis such as the global Coronavirus pandemic comes as a particular challenge to Barnsley – because of the legacy issues we face such as lower than average levels of economic activity, health inequalities and some particularly deprived communities.

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“This has meant that Barnsley has been harder hit by the pandemic than other parts of England and will need to work harder to recover economically and socially from its impacts.”

Town Hall.Town Hall.
Town Hall.

The plan aims to “provide immediate help for local people, employers and places”, and puts the borough “on the road towards social and economic renewal”.

It states that the UK economy is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023, but it’s not all bad news for the borough – the plan states that the council aims to bring the recovery rate of levels of employment in Barnsley “in line with or better than South Yorkshire average”.

In a bid to kick-start the economy into gear in Barnsley, the plan states that a range of projects will support people back into work – offered by the DWP to new Universal Credit claimants, and targeted support from BMBC to those requiring more help.

Around £300,000 will also be used to bring businesses into the digital world, helping them set up online shops and digital communications.