Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support the Government has put in place for beauty salons affected by Plan B covid-19 restrictions.

In December, Government announced a generous £1 billion package of support for business and their employees to help them manage the effects of the rapid surge of Omicron and bounce back quickly.

The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme, announced on 21 December, is intended to provide targeted support for the food and beverage, accommodation and leisure sectors which offer in-person services. This action was taken to support businesses impacted by the Omicron variant, which led to the public voluntarily restricting their social mixing and reports that many businesses in these sectors had lost 40-60% of their December trade. Personal Care services are not eligible for this scheme.

However, in recognition that other businesses outside the scope of this grant may have been impacted, local authorities in England also received a top-up worth a total of £102 million to their Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund. Distribution of ARG funds is at the local authority's discretion.

Due to the balanced and proportionate approach taken by the Government in response to the Omicron variant, Cabinet has decided to return to Plan A in England.