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Struggling high street shops reopening today need more support, MPs say

REOPENING high-street charity shops will not be enough to save the struggling non-profit sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, MPs are warning as they call for help from the government.

Shops, including those run by charities, will start to reopen from today as part of the government’s Covid-19 economic recovery strategy and easing of the lockdown.

But the Commons digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) committee said that the government “still doesn’t seem to understand” that charities not directly involved in the coronavirus response need more support.

Committee chairman Julian Knight said: “The government is taking a head-in-the-sand approach to the plight of charities, struggling for survival against lost income and soaring demands for their services from people hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis.

“Ministers fail to recognise that the charities and voluntary sector present a special case at such a critical time for the country … charity shops might be reopening for the first time since lockdown, but their future is far from secure.”

The committee has asked for a separate job retention scheme for charities that would allow furloughed employees to volunteer for their organisations to keep services going.

But the government said that the scheme was not designed to help charities cut the cost of delivering services, urging to apply for money from a £750 million funding package that it has provided.

The committee’s warning over the future of charities comes as Labour sounds the alarm for the retail and hospitality industries, which it said have been hit hardest by the lockdown measures.

The party is urging the government today to give the sectors the clarity that they need to safely reopen, such as on social distancing, personal protective equipment (PPE), use of toilets and table service.

Shadow business minister Lucy Powell warned that the sector faces collapse, with a wave of closures and redundancies, unless ministers ensure that sector-specific support is made available to businesses and a flexible furlough scheme for staff is put in place. 

She called for measures to allow businesses to reopen while “minimising the risk to the health of customers and staff.”

Figures this week show that the economy shrank in April at the fastest pace on record, with GDP down 20.4 per cent.

Ms Powell added: “If [ministers] fail to act, our communities will lose much-loved pubs, bars and restaurants and we’ll see a wave of closures and unemployment which will damage villages, towns and cities across the country.” 

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