Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional support the Chancellor is providing to coach businesses unable to operate as a result of covid-19 restrictions in Tier 3 alert level areas.

The Government has announced several measures available to UK businesses, including the coach sector, to support them through this challenging time, and launched a ‘support finder’ tool to help businesses quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them during the coronavirus pandemic.

As of 2 December, councils in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas of England are receiving funding to provide grants to closed businesses and run local discretionary grant schemes to support affected businesses. These grants could be available to businesses that supply the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, including coaches. These allocations will be published shortly and are in addition to the £2.3 billion already provided to local councils since the start of the pandemic. Local Authorities will administer this scheme and determine on a case-by-case basis where to allocate funding.