The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced that every hospitality, leisure, and accommodation business currently under tier two coronavirus restrictions will receive £2,100 per month, backdated until August.
He also announced new local cash grants for other businesses in a speech to the House of Commons this morning.
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During his speech to Parliament, Sunak admitted that even businesses that can stay open and trade stand to suffer 'profound' economic certainly, and that he'd heard the calls from within the hospitality industry for more help amongst a situation that is worse than they'd feared.
To mitigate that - he said - they'd agreed to extend the business grant system to those in any tier, whether they are forced to close or not.
He also said that there would be big changes made to the Job Support Scheme, which will replace the furlough scheme in November.
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Under the new scheme, employers will be asked to pay less and staff allowed to work fewer hours in order to qualify, as well as doubling the taxpayer subsidy.
He also acknowledged the 'frustration' amongst people in Lancashire, Liverpool, Greater Manchester, and South Yorkshire living under - or about to enter - the tier three restrictions, and said that he'll 'listen and respond to people's concerns', adding that he believes a 'balanced approach' is necessary.
Mr Sunak also offered a crumb of hope to those who are self-employed, stating that the government will increase their government contributions and double income support from 20 percent to 40 percent of people's income.
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He added that the maximum grant will be increased to £3,750, describing those sole traders as the 'dynamic entrepreneurial heart' of the British economy.
He concluded: "This is our plan: a plan for jobs, for businesses, for the regions, for the economy, for the country - a plan to support the British people,"
However, in response, Labour's shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds described the latest government plan as a 'patchwork of poor ideas, rushed out at the last minute'.
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She continued: "For months we've urged the chancellor to get ahead of the looming unemployment crisis and act to save jobs.
"Instead we've had a patchwork of poor ideas, rushed out at the last minute.
"A bonus scheme that will pay £2.6bn to businesses that don't need it, a job support scheme that wasn't going to work for the majority of businesses under pressure - and which we said at beginning didn't do enough to keep staff on - and an approach to support for areas entering tier three which has been nothing short of shambolic."
"This has had real life consequences."
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Dodds added: "We've got to get ahead of this crisis instead of always running to keep up,"