Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support operators of adult gaming centres during their extended period of closure in tier three covid-19 lockdown areas.

The Government recognises the extreme disruption the necessary actions to combat Covid-19 are having on sectors like indoor entertainment.

That is why in order to support businesses to retain their employees and protect the UK economy, the Chancellor extended both the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), which will continue to be available across all three tiers on 3 December.

Additionally, the Treasury has announced support for closed businesses through the Local Restrictions Support Grants, giving businesses that are forced to close due to national or local restrictions up to £3,000 per month; this is worth over £1bn per four weeks with the new restrictions in place and will benefit over 600,000 business premises, including eligible businesses in the indoor entertainment sector.

We will continue to monitor the impact of government support on public services, businesses, individuals and sectors, including the gaming industry, as we respond to this pandemic.