The island is facing a very serious economic challenge in the next 12 months following the Covid crisis, the Treasury Minister has warned.

Alfred Cannan gave the warning as he was pressed to provide support for struggling rural businesses.

Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse said the local pub and local post office help bind communities together.

’There does seem to be an issue in rural communities in terms of the last remaining pub, the last remaining shop, the last remaining post office.

’Closure of these core services will potentially leave villages as a mass of houses,’ he said. ’Those facilities once lost are unlikely to be reproduced in the future.’

He asked the Treasury Minister if he had looked at these specific issues in specific communities.

funding

Mr Cannan replied: ’Treasury’s job is to ensure that funding and support for businesses is distributed in a fair manner across the community.

’Clearly if there are specific community schemes that are required then again Treasury will look at those on a fair and equal basis.

’But we are facing up to very serious economic challenge in the next 12 months. The priority must be now to focus on businesses and jobs and the economy as a whole.’

He said Treasury was looking at providing broad support on an equal and fair basis to businesses ’whether they are in rural areas or our central towns’.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said some businesses that were struggling before Covid-19 have been unable to ’weather this storm even with government support’.

He said that, despite the support schemes, not every business can be saved.

Mr Quayle said the Department for Enterprise is working with businesses and local authorities to support the retail and hospitality sectors, and a town and country branding programme introduced before the lockdown is being progressed.

Other initiatives are being considered, he added. ’I don’t doubt that rural communities have their own unique challenges but I urge the public to support these Manx businesses more than ever.’

Mr Quayle was asked about the need for a rural strategy and he said he was happy to take this on board and pass it on to the committee set up in February to look at how the island’s community can be improved.