Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the level of financial support required by the wedding industry to support its reopening.
Answered by Paul Scully
Over the course of the pandemic the Government has provided an unprecedented package of support to businesses, including those in the wedding sector, which it keeps under regular review.
I meet regularly with representatives of the wedding sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on wedding businesses.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with women working in the wedding industry on the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on their businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce, established to represent all parts of the UK Weddings sector, to understand the impact of COVID-19 on wedding businesses.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether hair, beauty, spa and wellness salons, barbershops and mobile services are classified as (a) non-essential retail, (b) hospitality or (c) personal care in relation to covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Paul Scully
According to Cabinet Office’s guide for the new national restrictions, they are classed as personal care services. As their guide states, the Government cannot provide comments on individual cases of whether or not a business is permitted to open. It is for each business to assess whether they are a business required to close having considered the guidance and Regulations.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of covid-19 transmission in (a) hair, (b) beauty and (c) spa and wellness services.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK is currently experiencing a public health emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is critical that employers, employees, the self-employed and clients take steps to keep everyone safe.
Incidence rates are growing and the NHS is under increasing pressure. From 5th November to 2nd December, non-essential retail and stores must close including close contact services such as hair, beauty, spa and wellness services. At the end of the period, we will look to return to a local and regional approach, based on the latest data.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the disproportionate effect of the extended closure of hair, beauty, spa and wellness services during the covid-19 outbreak on women working in that sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
Our guidance for the sector has a specific section, 3.3., covering equality in the workplace.
Cabinet Office guidance behind the new national restrictions has been brought because Government assessed that we had to take action immediately to protect the NHS and to get R decisively below 1.
The Government has, however, enabled click and collected services, as well as training and education (see guide) to enable COVID-secure businesses in this sector to operate where possible.
Asked by: Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The expenditure with our primary market research provider, Kantar UK LTD, between January 2019 and March 2020 was £4 million. The table below shows spend by month. We are unable to breakdown the expenditure into the activities undertaken by the supplier.
Month | Spend |
Jan-19 | 201,138 |
Feb-19 | 178,337 |
Mar-19 | 691,451 |
Apr-19 | 901,263 |
May-19 | 333,556 |
Jun-19 | 57,000 |
Jul-19 | 39,476 |
Aug-19 | 242,270 |
Sep-19 | 350,683 |
Oct-19 | 54,369 |
Nov-19 | 281,817 |
Dec-19 | 37,824 |
Jan-20 | 47,942 |
Feb-20 | 187,725 |
Mar-20 | 407,757 |
Total | 4,012,608 |