Petition · past parliament

Allow car body repair garages to close and receive financial government help !

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

It’s not safe for these garages to remain open, the 2m distance isn’t always possible, cars are being touched by several staff members and it’s not possible to follow cleanliness guidelines .
Some garages can not afford to close of their own free will as they will not receive the government help
Issue a statement that they can now close and apply for financial help .
There are a lot of small businesses that can’t afford to pay their staff and they are deemed safe to stay open,it isn’t safe but they can’t afford to pay staff and staff can’t afford to receive SSP.
Allow them to close ASAP and apply for the government funding to help with wages and rental .
We have to stay home, stay safe yet everyday these workers are delivering cars to customers and touching cars all day amongst them

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. The Government has allowed garages to remain open for emergency repairs, however it is a decision for individual businesses whether to do so. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is open to all businesses that choose to furlough their staff, and is not conditional on the business being on the list of those that have to close.

You can find more information on support available to businesses here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support

We have published a petition calling on the Government to require garages to only open for key workers during Covid19, which you might like to sign: Require garages to only open for key workers during Covid19

If you want the Government to close all businesses that are not vital, you may wish to sign this petition: Complete UK lockdown of all business but those essential to our survival

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/

Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

29 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
15 May 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 15 May 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.