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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions has he had on unemployment levels in York in the next 12 months.

York has been an economic success story over the past decade. Unemployment in the wider local enterprise partnership area halved between 2010 and March 2020, and is almost 50 per cent lower than the average for England.

At a local level, the Government’s Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) have enabled City of York Council to pay out over £46.5m in grant payments to over 3,500 business premises in York. The Government is also continuing to invest in York and North Yorkshire’s long term economic potential including a three-year Local Growth Deal worth over £145m, a £15.4m share of the Getting Building Fund, and investment in the York Central Enterprise Zone which will support 6,500 new jobs in the next few years.

These local investments supplement our unprecedented support for businesses and employees on at the national scale, including the measures announced on 24 September in my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Winter Economy Plan. This package includes a new Jobs Support Scheme to protect millions of returning workers, an extension of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, and help for businesses in repaying government-backed loans. We have also strengthened the welfare the safety net to help people who need it, including by increasing the standard allowance for Universal Credit and the Working Tax Credit by up to £1,000 this year.