Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to mitigate job losses in the food and drink wholesale sector as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government has provided unprecedented levels of support for workers and businesses to protect, as much as possible, against the current economic emergency. Food and drink wholesalers are eligible for a number of these support schemes, with the most relevant likely to include:
Food and drink wholesalers have also benefited from the recent Eat Out to Help Out Scheme which provided over 100 million half price meals during August and helped to protect the livelihoods of the 1.8 million people working in the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason business rate relief has not been made available to food and wholesale businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligible properties. As set out in the guidance, support is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises, and self-catering accommodation. It is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday such as wholesalers, has also been made available.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timeframe is for the Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme to start accepting applications from Scottish food and drink wholesale businesses.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government’s Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme will see the majority of Trade Credit Insurance coverage maintained for businesses across the UK. The Scheme operates as a reinsurance arrangement through trade credit insurers which will enable them to continue to write and maintain cover to business throughout the COVID-19 crisis. At present, insurers serving over 80% of the market have signed up to participate in the scheme. There is no need for underlying businesses to sign up to the scheme.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to extend business rates relief to food and drink wholesalers who supply to (a) schools, (b) hospitals, (c) care homes and the hospitality industry to mitigate against (i) businesses in that sector closing and (ii) jobs being lost as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
A range of other measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as wholesalers, has also been made available. On 8 July the Chancellor set out a package of measures to support jobs across the UK, including a Job Retention Bonus to help firms keep furloughed workers, and a new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people. The Chancellor has also announced a cut in VAT to 5% for accommodation, attractions and the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made (a) for the implications for his policies of recent wholesale food data from the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) of the potential merits of providing additional financial support to businesses within the wholesale sector to safeguard food supplies to public services.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government fully recognises the extreme disruption to people’s lives, jobs and businesses caused by the necessary actions taken to tackle COVID-19. It is for this reason that the Government has announced unprecedented levels of support for workers and businesses. Food and drink wholesalers, which have played a critical role in supporting the food supply chain throughout the past months, are eligible for a number of these schemes, including:
Food and drink wholesalers will also benefit from the Chancellor’s recent announcement of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme which will encourage people to safely return to eating out at restaurants for sit-down meals.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of extending business rates relief to food and drink wholesalers.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Business rates are devolved in Scotland, and so are a matter for the Scottish Government.
In England, the Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligible properties. As set out in the guidance, support is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation. It is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as wholesalers, has also been made available.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the wholesale sector and safeguard food supplies to schools, care homes, hospitals and other critical public service infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a range of temporary financial support to the wholesale sector, a key supplier of food to critical public service organisations, to ensure its ongoing viability through this difficult period. Wholesalers are eligible for a number of schemes, including: the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help keep millions of people in employment and the Discretionary Grant Fund for small and micro businesses that are not eligible for other grant schemes.
In addition to this, Defra has been working with the charity sector through the Food Charity Grant Scheme which gives charities up to £100,000 in grant funding to purchase food to support the most economically vulnerable. Through this scheme, Defra has encouraged charities that do not have established suppliers to purchase stock from wholesalers and local producers, both to support the sector and to reduce waste.
A range of Government departments hold responsibility for public sector food provision for specific sectors including schools, care homes, hospitals and prisons. My department is working closely with officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence to support them in making arrangements with their suppliers to ensure food supply continues to these public sector institutions.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to provide long-term support to the food and drink wholesale sector.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government`s priority is to support the economy through the crisis; keep as many people as possible in their existing jobs, support viable businesses and protect the incomes of the most vulnerable. That is why the Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including almost £300 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP.
Food and drink wholesale distributors continue to have access to the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the four government-backed loan schemes for firms of all sizes. The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible and how to apply - https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
On 11 May the Government published its COVID-19 recovery strategy which sets out our plan for moving to the next phase of our response. Going forward, as the economy opens up, our energies will focus on supporting the recovery. The Government will continue to closely monitor the impacts of the support packages and continue to engage with businesses and representative groups in the wholesale sector. Any announcements on the next stage of our economic response will be made at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor for the Exchequer on support for the wholesale food and drink sector in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
I am in regular contact with the Chancellor for the Exchequer and all members of the Cabinet to discuss how best the UK Government can support sectors of the Scottish economy, including the wholesale food and drink sector.
At the last budget delivered in March I was pleased to see the Scotch whisky industry getting a welcome boost, with a freeze on spirits and a commitment to a review of alcohol duty, and £10 million help to develop green technology. I was also extremely happy to see £1 million investment in promoting Scottish produce to overseas markets.
The wholesale food and drink sector in Scotland has also been considered as part of the UK Government’s broader Covid-19 support. This included the support offered through the Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme which have protected the incomes of almost 800,000 people in Scotland – more than a quarter of the workforce. This is in addition to the various loans and guarantees to help UK businesses survive the economic fallout from coronavirus. However, our response to Covid-19 must be UK-wide and that’s why we have announced over £7 billion of additional funding to the devolved administrations to support people, business and public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This means £3.8 billion for the Scottish Government, £2.2 billion for the Welsh Government and £1.2 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what policy changes he plans to make in response to the findings of a Federation of Wholesale Distributors survey that (a) 50 per cent of the 150 food and drink wholesale businesses surveyed, all of which have a turnover of £45 million or lower, are in danger of going into liquidation in the next three months to a year, (b) 70 per cent of those respondents supply food and drink to schools, care homes, hospitals and (c) £270 million worth of public sector contracts are at risk without urgent financial support; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including almost £300 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP. Local Authorities (LAs) can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses in supply chains, like wholesale distributors, if they feel there is a particular local economic need. The Government has allocated up to £617 million to LAs to enable them to give discretionary grants to businesses in this situation. LAs may choose to focus payments on those priority groups which are most relevant to their local areas or to businesses outside of these priority groups, so long as the business was trading on 11th March, and has not received any other cash grant funded by central Government.
Wholesale distributors continue to have access to other elements of the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the four government-backed loan schemes for firms of all sizes. The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible and how to apply - https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
On 11 May the Government published its COVID-19 recovery strategy which sets out our plan for moving to the next phase of our response. The strategy sets out a cautious roadmap for easing existing measures in a safe and measured way. On 15 June the non-essential retail sector reopened. The roadmap will be kept constantly under review, and we will continue to work hard to support business and workers as the situation evolves.