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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support local councils in the distribution of the £500 million top-up to the Additional Restrictions Grant funding.

The Additional Restrictions Grant is a discretionary fund which, meaninglocal authorities have the ability to develop support schemes that suit their local economy.

On the 14^th January, the full guidance for local authorities on the Business Support Package for the January Lockdown - including the additional £500m in Additional Restrictions Grant funding - was published. All local authorities have also been issued with a new FAQ pack to assist in the operation of the grant schemes.

We are committed to carrying out a full new burden assessment, recognising that additional requirements have been placed on local authorities to deliver this much needed support to businesses quickly.