Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)
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 effect of the tiered covid-19 public health restrictions on the ability to trade of (a) the 60 pubs in Reading East and (b) other pubs throughout the country.
Answered by Paul Scully
Scientific evidence shows that hospitality venues can be higher risk environments than other indoor settings, and people who are consuming alcohol tend to be less likely to comply with health guidance. Through tiering we are making these venues safer and reducing transmission of the virus.
Whilst tiered restrictions have reduced the ability of pubs to trade, the Government has implemented a comprehensive and generous package of business support, worth £280 billion. This includes a new one-off grant worth up to £9,000, VAT relief, a business-rates holiday, and the extended furlough scheme. A further grant of £1,000 was made to support wet-led pubs in Tier 2, 3 and 4 areas, including Reading East, over the Christmas period.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)
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 representative organisations for pubs and breweries on the effect of tier 2 and tier 3 public health restrictions on businesses in that sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. The new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has met with representative organisations from across the hospitality sector since taking on the role on 11 January.
Hospitality businesses have been able to benefit from Government support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants, additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses and the Cultural Relief Fund.
On 5 January, when the new national lockdown began, the Chancellor announced a one-off top up grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring. A £594 million discretionary fund has also been made available to support other impacted businesses.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what happens to funding allocated to local authorities as part of the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) which is not distributed to businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has put forward an unprecedented package of support for businesses in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This support includes extensive grant funding for businesses that have been required by law to close as a result of, or have been severely impacted by, localised and national restrictions.
Local authorities should pay businesses in line with the restriction period to which the funding is allocated to ensure local economies are supported during restrictions. Any unspent funding allocated to local authorities under a mandatory grants scheme will be recovered after a reconciliation process. It is not expected that discretionary schemes, such as the ARG, will have any unallocated funding as we would expect local authorities to apportion this funding to businesses. We are working closely with local authorities to ensure funding gets out the door to businesses as quickly as possible and to avoid any unnecessary underspend.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)
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 increase funding allocations for local authorities which have distributed their allocated funds from the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) but have an additional need for emergency support.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to continuing to provide financial support via local authorities for business premises that are required to close due to restrictions that have been put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives.
BEIS will provide Local Authorities with the full costs of providing funding to eligible businesses that are required to close through Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed). Where the initial allocation of this grant to Local Authorities is insufficient, it will be topped up.
Discretionary grants – Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) and Additional Restrictions Grant - are formula based. With the announcement of a further period of national lockdown starting on 5th January a further £500m has been allocated to Local Authorities via the Additional Restrictions Grant to support businesses severely affected by the restrictions even though they are not required to close, including those falling outside the business rates system such as market traders. This comes on top of £1.1bn already allocated in November 2020. It is expected that local authorities use this additional resource quickly to support businesses in their area.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether local authorities receive funding for the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) up front or are reimbursed.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has put forward an unprecedented package of support for businesses in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This support includes extensive grant funding for businesses that have been required by law to close as a result of, or have been severely impacted by, localised and national restrictions.
As set out in the Government guidance, local authorities have received an initial allocation of 90% of the estimated grant funding amount for the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) Addendum and Closed Business Lockdown Grant schemes. When this threshold of funding is reached, Government will pay local authorities the further agreed funding. The additional £500 million distributed through the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme was paid to local authorities in one lump sum payment, as with the previous ARG payment. We are working closely with local authorities to ensure that funding is delivered to businesses that are in scope of these schemes as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the funding available under the (a) Local Restrictions Support Grant and (b) Additional Restrictions Grant has been allocated to local authorities but not yet distributed to businesses.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is working closely with local authorities in England to distribute funding available under the Local Restrictions Support Grant and the Additional Restrictions Grant to businesses as quickly as possible. Local authority guidance was published on 3rd November and grant offer letters were sent to local authorities on 6th November. Payments to local authorities have been made since 13th November.
We are working closely with local authorities to monitor the ongoing implementation of the grant schemes.