Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional support, beyond the Discretionary Grant Fund scheme, he will provide to businesses ineligible for Government grants or loans, during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.

During this difficult time for the country, the Government is acutely aware of the extreme disruption to people’s lives, jobs, and businesses due to the necessary actions to tackle COVID-19.

The Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund closed to new applicants on 28 August. However, the Government recognises that businesses which are legally required to close due to national or local restrictions, including those which were introduced on 5 November, will need additional support. This is why we have announced the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) scheme, which will provide businesses in England which are legally required to close with grants of up to £3,000 per four-week closure period, depending on their rateable value.

Through the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open), local authorities which were subject to restrictions on socialising between 1 August and 5 November will also receive additional funding so that they can make grants of up to £2,100 per month of closures to hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses which were able to remain open but which experienced a severe reduction in demand due to restrictions on socialising.

On top of this, we have provided Local Authorities with a further £1.1 billion across England via the Additional Restrictions Grant. Local Authorities have discretion on how to use this funding to support businesses in their areas, but we encourage them to set up discretionary grant schemes to support businesses which can remain open, but which are nonetheless severely affected by the enhanced COVID-19 restrictions.

Businesses across the country should also be able to benefit from others measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for businesses, including:

• The extension to 31 March of the CJRS, through which employees will receive up to 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked up to a maximum of £2,500 per month;
• Support for the self-employed via the SEISS, which will provide the self-employed with grants worth up to 80% of trading profits, covering November to January;
• The extension of the application deadline for loan guarantee schemes to the end of January 2021;
• An adjustment to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme rules to allow those businesses who have borrowed less than their maximum (i.e. less than 25% of their turnover) to top-up their existing loan; and
• Help for businesses in repaying loans from Government-backed schemes through the Pay as you Grow scheme and allowing lenders to extend the terms of CBILS loans to up to 10 years.