Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional financial support his Department plans to provide to wet-led pubs affected by covid-19 tier restrictions.

The Government understands that this is a very challenging time for the hospitality sector, and recognises 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 is working with businesses and trade groups to inform our efforts to support these businesses.

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 to these businesses. It is for this reason that the Government has announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for wet-led pubs in tiers 2 and 3, that will miss out on business during the busy Christmas period.

This grant will be a one-off for December and will be paid on top on the existing £3,000 monthly cash grants for businesses. In addition to these grants, the Government has acted to deliver support to the hospitality sectors by extending the CJRS until March, and made £1.1 billion of Discretionary Grant funding available 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 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%)