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Written Question
Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
Monday 18th May 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what fiscal steps he is taking to support (a) Stoke-on-Trent City Council, (b) Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and (c) Staffordshire County Council during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Government has made a commitment to support all authorities with the additional cost pressures from the extra work and the specific tasks we have asked them to carry out as a result of the pandemic, including in relation to social care – both adult and children’s, public health services, shielding the most vulnerable, homelessness and rough sleeping, supporting the NHS and managing excess deaths.

The £3.2 billion package of support, which has distributed £16.1 million to Stoke-on-Trent, £1.4 million to Newcastle-under-Lyme and £37.8 million to Staffordshire, recognises the additional costs and pressures on finances councils are facing as a result of the current crisis. It demonstrates the Government’s commitment to making sure all councils have the resources they need to support their communities through this challenging time. This is a significant package of support which responds to the range of pressures councils have told us they are facing.

Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Tuesday 28th April 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to support businesses facing challenges as a result of the covid-19 outbreak in (a) Stoke-on-Trent, (b) Kidsgrove, (c) Talke and (d) England.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The Government has announced a package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. In particular, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been working across Government to provide £12.33 billion of grant funding to help small and rural businesses and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors manage their cashflow through this period. This support will take the form of two grant funding schemes, the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF).

Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF):

  • All businesses in England in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) and Rural Rates Relief (RRR) in the business rates system will be eligible for a payment of £10,000.
  • This is estimated to apply to around 730,000 businesses across England.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF):

  • Businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for the following cash grants per property:
  • Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up to and including £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000.
  • Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.

The allocation for support in the local authorities of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme and the total for England is listed below:

Local Authority

Allocation

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council (Kidsgrove and Talke)

£23,876,000

Stoke-on-Trent City Council

£57,654,000

Total

England

£12.33billion