COUNCIL bosses have welcomed more than £200,000 Covid cash to help support communities in the district.

Braintree Council will get an extra £228,000 from the Government to help ease the financial pressures of the pandemic.

The latest aid has come from a £1billion cash pot of additional support being shared between councils across England for their ongoing work to support communities, announced today by Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick.

It takes the total for Braintree to just over £2million.

This extra funding is a welcome step in the right direction from central government

The council says the financial impact of the pandemic has left it £3.25million out of pocket, with additional expenditure of £1.07million and lost income, such as from car parking charges, of £2.18million.

Halstead Gazette:

  • Welcomed cash - Graham Butland

The council will also bid for a slice of £100million of government cash ring-fenced to support council leisure centres.

Council leader Graham Butland said: “This extra funding is a welcome step in the right direction from central government.

"It will go a long way to help protect vital local services for our residents and businesses during the current pandemic.”