Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that small pubs, bars, and restaurants are not required to close as a result of rising utility bills.

The Government recognises that a number of businesses are facing cost pressures driven by global factors, including high energy and commodity prices and supply chain disruption.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to fully shield everyone from the global challenges we face. Unlike households, businesses can absorb or pass on some of these costs. The government’s immediate priority is taking action that will support families to navigate the months ahead.

Over the past two years, government has taken unprecedented action to protect millions of businesses. We have also brought forward a number of measures to support businesses this year including:

• The Recovery Loan Scheme, providing businesses with up to £2 million of government guaranteed finance.
• Cutting business rates by 50% for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in 2022-23, worth up to £110,00 per business.
• Increasing the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000, cutting the cost of employment for 495,000 small businesses.
• The Super-deduction, allowing companies to cut their tax bill by up to 25p for every £1 they invest in qualifying productivity enhancing plant and machinery assets until March 2023.
• Increasing the Annual Investment Allowance to £1 million.
• The Help to Grow programme, which will support thousands of SMEs to access subsidised leadership and management training and productivity-enhancing software.
• Fuel duty: Businesses will also benefit from the cut to fuel duty announced by the Chancellor announced as part of his Spring Statement. The duty rate on petrol and diesel has been cut by 5p per litre until March 2023.

We are in regular contact with business groups about the challenges businesses are facing and we will continue to keep the situation under review.