Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support is available to people working in the travel photography industry who have been affected by the covid-19 restrictions.

The Government appreciates the significant disruption the pandemic has had on the travel and tourism sector and is very grateful for people’s patience as it works to protect the NHS and save lives.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the Government has put in place an unprecedented economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months.

Measures announced at Spring Budget 2021 which businesses, including photography companies, may benefit from include extensions to the furlough scheme; extensions to the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS); extensions to the COVID-19 loan schemes; a business rates holiday; mortgage holidays; enhanced Time to Pay for taxes; and an extension to the reduced rate of VAT for businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

The Government is also conscious of the fact that demand for travel is influenced by international travel restrictions. Government’s objective is to see a safe and sustainable return to international travel. That’s why we have worked with industry and international partners to set up a Traffic Light System to facilitate the return of international travel while managing variants of concern.

We have recently published details of countries that fall into which category of the Traffic Light System and confirmed that international travel can resume from 17 May 2021. Our priority remains to protect public health, which is why the ‘green’ list is currently very small. As the epidemiological situation improves worldwide, it is expected that there will be more opportunities for leisure travel with a greater number of destinations added.