Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of state aid rules under the Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Authorities on the level of financial support available to (a) pubs, (b) restaurants and (c) the hospitality sector; and if he will make a statement.

The Government has put forward a package of support for businesses in the hospitality sector in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. In England, this included the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF). The Government published clear guidance on the grant scheme, and local authorities were responsible for delivering grants to businesses that were in scope. As stated in the guidance, RHLGF grants could be paid to eligible businesses under the Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Authorities up to a limit of £800,000 and subject to the recipient confirming they were not an undertaking in difficulty (within the definition of Article 2(18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation) on 31 December 2019.

As at 30 September, over £11.12 billion had been paid out to 906,620 business premises across the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) and the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) schemes. We do not hold grant payment data from local authorities broken down by sector or type of business, however a full breakdown of final grant payment figures by local authority is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses Both schemes have now closed.

Further grant support?totalling?£2.2 billion has been made?available via local authorities to support businesses?that had to close during the 5 November and 2 December nationalrestrictions, as well as businesses impacted by?localised restrictions. State aid limits apply. On 13 October 2020 the European Commission (CION) announced further amendments to its State Aid Temporary Framework. The U.K. Government has notified the CION of its intention to use the new provision and must await approval from the CION to do so. The Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Public Authorities will need to be amended before aid under this new measure may be provided. All Local Restrictions Support Grants guidance documents will be updated to reflect the new provisions if and when they are applied to the LRSG schemes once the UK Government has approval.