Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Ansell Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

What fiscal steps his Department is taking to support businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

[Caroline Ansell (Eastbourne) (Con)]

What fiscal steps his Department is taking to support businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

[Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)]

What fiscal steps his Department is taking to support businesses in Rossendale and Darwen constituency.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we owe mums everywhere an enormous debt of thanks for doing the enormously difficult job of juggling childcare and work at this tricky time. I know she will join me in being happy that early years settings have been open for a while, but she is right to say that the only way to sustainably solve this challenge is safely to reopen our schools as quickly as we can.

[Caroline Ansell [V]]

I have long believed that there was a compelling case for reducing VAT for the hospitality sector, and the pandemic-inspired cut helped to save the season between lockdowns. May I ask that my right hon. Friend, when he is looking at his Budget, considers making the cut permanent, to power the recovery across the UK, including in my destination town of Eastbourne, where one in four jobs depends on tourism?

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend is rightly a champion for her local tourism and hospitality businesses, and she is not alone; across the country, hundreds of thousands of these businesses employ 2 million people. Those businesses are particularly vital in constituencies such as hers, which is why we reduced the rate of VAT—it runs all the way through to the end of March. She will know that we have an upcoming Budget, where we plan to review all our measures of support.