Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support small businesses in Hull affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government delivered a package of support for business including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, business rates relief, grants and loans. Hull City Council received £120m in grant support, reporting payments worth £99m to their businesses.
Two years on, and thanks to our successful vaccination programme, the immunity built up in the population and antiviral and therapeutics tools, the UK is in the strongest position to learn how to live with COVID-19 and end government regulation.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the role of the UK’s net zero targets in meeting COP26 commitments.
Answered by Greg Hands
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly meets with Cabinet colleagues to discuss net zero targets and progress towards these. The Government’s Net Zero Strategy is a cross-economy strategy which keeps the Government on track for meeting carbon budgets and the UK’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution.
The Government’s leadership on climate change at home, including reducing emissions faster than any other G7 economy, means that the Government is well placed not just to meet commitments made at COP26, but also to continue to drive forward international action and encourage others to deliver on their commitments in this critical decade of delivery.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department made available for hairdressers in response to business disruptions as a result of the omicron variant of covid-19.
Answered by Paul Scully
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Batley and Spen on 27 January 2022 to Question 110644.
While the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant focused on sectors where social mixing was a primary motivation for consumers, Local Authorities were encouraged to support the personal care sector through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme. Local Authorities reported that close to 750,000 payments of ARG, worth a total of over £2 billion, had been made to businesses by 31 March 2022, the scheme closure date.
The additional measures announced on 21 December 2021 reinforced the existing package of wider Government support.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason hairdressers were not included in the additional grant for hospitality and leisure businesses impacted by the covid-19 omicron variant over the 2021-22 winter period.
Answered by Paul Scully
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Batley and Spen on 27 January 2022 to Question 110644.
While the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant focused on sectors where social mixing was a primary motivation for consumers, Local Authorities were encouraged to support the personal care sector through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme. Local Authorities reported that close to 750,000 payments of ARG, worth a total of over £2 billion, had been made to businesses by 31 March 2022, the scheme closure date.
The additional measures announced on 21 December 2021 reinforced the existing package of wider Government support.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she plans to take to support people in fuel poverty following the removal of the £20 uplift to the standard allowance of universal credit.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Government recognises that approximately 3.1 million households in England are experiencing fuel poverty. This is why we have committed £1.3 billion this year alone to improving the efficiency of fuel-poor and other low-income homes through stimulus schemes such as the Local Authority Delivery Scheme, the Social Housing Decarbonisation fund and the Home Upgrade Grant.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that hospitality businesses in (a) Kingston upon Hull North constituency and (b) the UK do not close down as a result of covid-19 restrictions in advance of those restrictions being eased.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has brought forward a substantial package of financial support for the hospitality sector over the last year. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer will be making further announcements on the next phase of our economic support package in his Budget on 3 March.