Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the second lockdown and tier restrictions on suppliers to pubs, restaurants and other hospitality and tourism businesses; how many pubs he estimates will be protected against closure by the one-off coronavirus emergency payment of £1,000 in December; and whether he will make it his policy to bring support for hospitality and tourism businesses and business-to-business companies in line with what the sector has identified as needed across each of the three tiers.

On the 30 November, the Government published ‘Analysis of the health, economic and social effects of COVID-19 and the approach to tiering’. As stated in this analysis, it is not possible to forecast the precise economic impact of a specific change to a specific restriction with confidence, however it is clear that restrictions to contain COVID-19 have had major impacts on the economy and public finances.

The Government understands that this is a very challenging time for the UK’s hospitality sector and recognises that the pub sector in particular has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The Government continues to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on the sector and on the economy as whole and is working with businesses and trade groups to inform our efforts to support these businesses.

The Government has announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3 who will miss out on business during the busy Christmas period. Wet-led pubs in tiers 2 and 3 will be subject to significant measures under the new regional tiered system and it is right for the government to increase its support.

The additional support comes on top of the £1.1 billion of Discretionary Grant funding for local authorities to target support to the businesses that are most important to their local economy. Businesses are also still able to access wider support, including:

o The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended until the end of March;

o Affordable, Government backed finance through loan schemes – extended until the end of January 2021 and ‘Pay as You Grow’ options for businesses which have taken out loans, to make repayments over the long-term;

o A VAT deferral for up to 12 months;

o A 12-month business rates holiday;

o A moratorium on evictions to protect commercial tenants;

o Targeted support through the temporarily reduced rate of VAT (5%)