Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is available to travel agencies who used coronavirus grants to refund their customers for cancelled holidays and therefore have inadequate funds to keep their business open.
Answered by Paul Scully
We know how difficult these continued restrictions are for the tourism sector, with businesses having already faced many months of reduced trade.
In total, over £25bn has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks. On top of the Government’s wider economic support package, we have extended business rates relief and introduced new Restart grants of up to £18,000 for many in the sector.
We have also extended the cut in VAT for tourism and hospitality activities to 5% until the end of September. In order to help businesses manage the transition back to the standard rate, a 12.5% rate will then apply for a further six months.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure travel agencies receive adequate coronavirus support to keep their businesses open.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government will continue to support businesses and individuals during this period - including through various Government-backed loans, new grants and the extended furlough and self-employed support schemes.
In the March Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced new ‘Restart Grants’ of up to £6,000 per premises for non-essential retail businesses and up to £18,000 per premises for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses in England. The Government is also providing all Local Authorities in England with an additional £425 million of discretionary business grant funding, on top of the £1.6 billion already allocated.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to support travel agencies after (a) covid-19 restrictions are eased and (b) coronavirus support grants have ceased in the context of travel agents being obliged to refund holidays as a result of changing covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
We recognise that these are very challenging conditions for businesses in the travel sector, including travel agents, which is why we have provided a range of measures to support the sector.
Most of our support schemes do not end until September or after, to provide continuity and certainty for businesses and families.
Additionally, on 6 April, we introduced a new Recovery Loan Scheme, providing loans from £25,000 up to £10 million, with an 80% government guarantee, to replace existing loan schemes coming to an end.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to help people eligible for the Green Homes Grant to find qualified installers.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is working closely with industry to ensure there are enough installers to meet demand for the Green Homes Grant (GHG) scheme:
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people have applied for the Green Homes Grant scheme to date.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
As of 15:00 on 14 October, the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme had received 17,218 grant applications.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to publish a review of the Green Homes Grant scheme after that scheme has ended.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There will be an evaluation of the processes and outcomes of the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, with an independent research organisation due to commence work later this year.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to increase the number of local contractors participating in the Green Homes Grant scheme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Homes Grant scheme will support tens of thousands of jobs, and we are working closely with industry to ensure there are enough installers to meet demand. More than 1,000 companies have signed up so far with more registering every day, including many businesses that operate nationally with substantial capacity to carry out work across the country.
We have also made £6.9m available via the Green Homes Grant Skills Training competition to fund training to increase the number of installers available.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people eligible for the Green Homes Grant scheme who will be unable to use that scheme due to inadequate numbers of qualified installers in their area.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Government is working closely with industry to ensure there are enough installers to meet demand. More than 1,000 companies are registered with TrustMark and are able to carry out measures under the Green Homes Grant Scheme, with more registering every day. We have changed the way the Simple Energy Advice website displays installers so that consumers can find increased numbers of registered tradespeople that can deliver work in their area.
Officials are working actively with TrustMark scheme providers and certification bodies to support installers to get certified as quickly as possible. The Department also recently launched a £6.9m skills competition to provide training opportunities for the energy efficiency and low carbon heating supply chains to deliver works and scale up to meet additional consumer demand.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to extend the deadline of the Green Homes Grant scheme after 31 March 2021.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The time-limited nature of the scheme is determined by the nature of the funding. Any potential funding allocations for future years will be determined in the next Government spending review.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons people eligible for the Green Homes Grant scheme have not been able to receive their vouchers before the start of November 2020.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Applications for Green Homes Grant scheme vouchers are subject to thorough checks, to help protect against malpractice. These checks may take some time to complete but are vital to ensuring value for money and consumer protection. The first vouchers will be approved and issued shortly.