Like all Welsh local authorities, Monmouthshire County Council has played a considerable role in supporting our communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

We have done our best to maintain services as normally as possible, redeployed staff, made the most of technology, gratefully accepted help from our volunteers and emphasised the protection of life as well as backing the county’s communities to be sustainable and resilient.

Over the past 11 months we’ve strived to support the county’s businesses and have administered a number of schemes designed to sustain them during these difficult times.

Among these schemes are help to deal with the challenges of the spring, autumn and winter lockdowns and one to enable town centre businesses to increase outdoor capacity while allowing social distancing.

This week, I would like to focus on the assistance we are currently providing to Monmouthshire’s small businesses.

We recently held two Business Support Livestream events to explain the range of grants currently available and to give businesses the chance to ask questions about their eligibility.

I would like to thank the 176 small businesses which signed up for these events and it was great to hear how passionate our business community is about continuing to trade throughout the pandemic. These events were recorded, so if you were not able to join the sessions you can watch the recording by visiting our business advice web page - see below.

The Restrictions Business Fund has recently been extended to support those who have been affected by the restrictions and lockdown that came into effect in December.

This includes a Non-Domestic Rate Grant for eligible businesses that are registered for business rates. There is also a Discretionary Grant for businesses that are not registered for business rates. Further information is available at: www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/business-advice

We have processed more than £35 million of financial support for businesses in the county so far and there will be more to come. However, we know that there are many that have not been able to access funding. We are continuing to call upon the Welsh Government to ensure that businesses are not excluded. This includes creating a genuinely discretionary fund for us to administer and to decide on allocations, using our local knowledge to support those missing out and with nowhere to turn. We also urge the Welsh Government to urgently consider an all embracing business rates holiday.

For information on support for the county’s small businesses during the pandemic please visit: www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/business-advice