Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to provide support to Business Improvement Districts during the covid-19 outbreak.

Government is committed to supporting Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and recognises the important role they play in rebuilding our high streets and towns, and that they will be even more important now as we look forward to the recovery phase from the current crisis. On 1 May, Government announced that we will be making available up to £6.1 million of support to BIDs to cover the equivalent of core operational costs for three months. This funding will be based on a fair percentage of a BID’s levy income from each BID’s operating year ending in 2019/20.

This is in addition to legislation included in the Coronavirus Act 2020 on 25 March. The clause enables BIDs to extend the maximum duration of their BID arrangements until 31 March 2021, delaying BID ballots due to take place between now and 31 December 2020 until March 2021. This will ensure that they are conducted in a safe and effective way.