There are approximately 12,000 self employed people in the city currently who will be needed during the economic recovery and should be included in the Governments plans.
In addition, York is recognised across the world as a city rich with a diverse culture. In 2019 the EU’s Cultural and Creative Cities monitor awarded York the most “culturally vibrant” city in the UK, and seventh best in Europe for medium size cities.
Cllr Darryl Smalley, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities at City of York Council, said:
“The cultural, creative and voluntary sectors are the life-blood of our communities. Across York, they support our wellbeing, enrich our lives and have vast economic benefits to our city.
That’s why along with Make It York and York Museums Trust and other city leaders, I have written to Oliver Dowden MP. We have welcomed the positive measures announced by the Government which go a large way to ensuring we get through this pandemic. However, a third of the UK’s creative workforce is self-employed, and the artists and creative practitioners in those sectors will be seriously affected by loss of income due to the pandemic.”
Nationally, the creative industries contributed £111.7bn to the UK economy in 2018, and grew five times faster than the wider economy. It is important that moving forward, the Government works quickly to provide reassurance and support to these sectors, so that they are able to bounce back once this crisis has passed.”
Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning, added:
“It is of some reassurance the government has recognised the need to support small and medium businesses during this crisis, and the new Government loans will go some way to alleviate short term cash flow issues.
However, supporting our self-employed residents is essential to our local economy. We don’t know yet what the full implications of COVID-19 will be, but we do know that more assistance must be provided to the self-employed, so that they are supported during this difficult time.”
For more information visit https://www.york.gov.uk/BusinessSupport