Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant

(asked on 7th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to extend eligibility for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant to allow unclaimed funds to be claimed by affected businesses that do not operate from rateable business premises.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 15th February 2022

As a result of the Omicron variant, hospitality and leisure businesses saw significant numbers of cancellations and reduced footfall throughout their peak trading period around Christmas. The aim of the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) is to support businesses offering in-person services, where social mixing is the primary motivation for their customers.

However, the Government recognises that some businesses impacted by the Omicron variant will fall outside of the scope of the OHLG. That is why government has made £2.1 billion of discretionary grant funding available to them through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). As of 30 January, there remains £294 million yet to be paid out to businesses and we encourage those impacted by Omicron to contact their local authority.

Both the OHLG and the ARG are available until the end of March 2022.

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