Covid-19: Economy Update

Debate between Lord Agnew of Oulton and Lord Liddle

Tuesday 27th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con)]

I am not aware of the specific figures. It is clearly very worrying that we could lose the creative capacity of our economy and our society. We are in the most unprecedented situation, certainly in my lifetime and probably going back to the end of the Second World War. Whenever this crisis ends, there will have to be a period of rebuilding and regeneration. I absolutely affirm the Government’s support for this very important part of our society.

[Lord Liddle (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a member of Cumbria County Council, and it is a Cumbria point I want to make. One of the welcome features of the Chancellor’s Statement was the introduction of a grant scheme for businesses impacted by tier 2 restrictions, even though they are not legally closed. Cumbria is in tier 1 but most of its businesses, such as hotels, boarding houses and restaurants, serve people who come from tier 3 areas in the north-west. There has been a dramatic fall in bookings, with lots of cancellations in the last week or so. These businesses are going to go bust unless they receive the help that tier 2 is getting. Can the Minister offer them some hope that, despite being in tier 1, they might receive some help?

Covid-19: Public Wealth Investment Fund

Debate between Lord Agnew of Oulton and Lord Liddle

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton [V]]

I certainly commit to chasing up a reply to the letter that the noble Lord mentioned. Businesses run by the BAME community are of course vital to our economy.

[Lord Liddle (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I want to press the Minister on the key point of principle in my noble friend Lord Haskel’s excellent Question. Do the Government accept the need to set up a mechanism whereby the state can take equity stakes in overindebted companies? Do they accept that this is vital to what the Minister describes as safeguarding our productive capacity and to a strong and sustainable recovery? Does the Minister accept that the debate is not about whether this should happen but about how it should happen? The sooner we start talking about this, the better.

[Lord Agnew of Oulton [V]]

There are two parts to that question. First, on 20 May, we announced the future fund of an initial £250 million for co-investment with businesses. There has been enormous interest in that; some 460 applications have been made up to the end of May. On the noble Lord’s reference to overindebted companies, we have to deal with the issue that the shareholders and management of those companies have contributed to that problem. They need to resolve the substantial concessions that they will have to make to their own equity, and to the lenders who have lent—and possibly overlent—to these businesses. There are two separate strands to this, but both will be active in future.