Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support is available for small brewers experiencing financial hardship as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognises that breweries have been acutely disrupted by recent necessary restrictions to the hospitality businesses they supply. That is why the Government has extended the unprecedented package of support measures, to protect businesses and jobs. This includes:

• An extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until 2 December
• Cash grants of up to £3,000 per month to help businesses that are closed with their costs, including paying their supply chains
• £1.1 billion of Discretionary Grant funding for local authorities to target support to the businesses that are most important to their local economy
• Plans to extend existing loan schemes to the end of January and an option to top-up Bounce Back Loans
• A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England until the end of March, worth £10 billion in tax foregone.

Small breweries have and will continue to benefit directly from Government support schemes, and indirectly from the support offered to the pubs and restaurants they supply, protecting jobs in the industry. The Government is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on the sector and to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support this sector.