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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the introduction of Plan B covid-19 restrictions on the (a) hospitality and (b) retail sectors.

The Government moved to Plan B in England as it was necessary to control the spread of transmission of the new threat posed by the Omicron variant and the potential impact on businesses. To support all businesses across the UK economy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have provided businesses with an unprecedented support package of £400 billion, including grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT cuts and the job retention scheme. This includes a total of over £26bn in business grants. The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund is open until March 2022.