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<p>In December, Government announced a generous £1 billion package of support for
business and their employees to help them manage the effects of the rapid surge of
Omicron and bounce back quickly.</p><p> </p><p>The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure
Grant scheme, announced on 21 December, is intended to provide targeted support for
the food and beverage, accommodation and leisure sectors which offer in-person services.
This action was taken to support businesses impacted by the Omicron variant, which
led to the public voluntarily restricting their social mixing and reports that many
businesses in these sectors had lost 40-60% of their December trade. Personal Care
services are not eligible for this scheme.</p><p> </p><p>However, in recognition that
other businesses outside the scope of this grant may have been impacted, local authorities
in England also received a top-up worth a total of £102 million to their Additional
Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund. Distribution of ARG funds is at the local authority's
discretion.</p><p> </p><p>Due to the balanced and proportionate approach taken by
the Government in response to the Omicron variant, Cabinet has decided to return to
Plan A in England.</p>
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