The Towns and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) Resilience and Recovery Fund is open to local authorities as well as community and development trusts, chambers of commerce and town centre partnerships to address immediate concerns.

It will help finance emergency recovery projects such as:

• Digital markets and virtual high streets
• Online local jobs and volunteering platforms
• Open for business guides and maps
• Physical distancing street markers and one way systems

Aileen Campbell, communities secretary, said: “The coronavirus crisis is having an unprecedented impact on every high street and town centre as we take measures to supress and control the spread of the virus.

“As we carefully ease out of lockdown it is vital that we support our local communities to safely reopen our high streets and recover from the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. The steps we take to rebuild our economy and restore our town centres must be flexible and adaptable to allow them to respond quickly to any future changes.

“This funding will support the implementation of new measures for town centres, addressing immediate concerns and assisting in the recovery and renewal of local communities. This is also an opportunity to consider the future of our towns. We want to support them to be greener, healthier places where business and social activity thrive and their recovery is an important part of our ambitions on social renewal, as we work towards reducing poverty and disadvantage.”

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.