Oral Answers to Questions

Greg Clark Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clarke]

The hon. Lady is asking me to evaluate the impact of bids that we received only on Friday, so I am afraid that her logic is back to front. We are proposing investment zones because they are needed to drive jobs, growth and opportunity. Councils can recognise that even if, sadly, the Labour Front-Bench team cannot.

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

T3. Like the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy), I wish my right hon. Friend longevity in his vital position. When will he announce the devolution deals with Suffolk and north-east England that were negotiated this summer?

[Mr Clarke]

I am very fortunate to have had two such able predecessors in my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), to whose work at the Department I pay tribute. As he knows, we are bringing forward devolution deals at pace—I believe in them passionately—and I hope that there will be good news to announce on both those deals very shortly.

Rough Sleeping Strategy

Greg Clark Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Greg Clark)]

On 3 September Government published their new strategy to end rough sleeping in England.

This Government have made the unprecedented pledge to end rough sleeping within this Parliament, and this strategy will help us to deliver that goal. Working with our partners across Government, in local authorities and the sector, we have delivered remarkable progress so far, with rough sleeping levels in the most recent annual rough sleeping snapshot at an eight-year low in England. However, we face significant challenges if we are to end rough sleeping for good, and we must work across Government and with local partners to step up our efforts.

The strategy will build on that progress and help us end rough sleeping for good by bringing forward a bold new approach backed by £2 billion of funding over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in England.

For the first time, we are defining what we mean by ending rough sleeping—that rough sleeping will be prevented wherever possible, and when it does occur, it will be rare, brief and non-recurrent. We will bring forward a new data framework, which will enable us to track progress against the definition and ensure all local and central partners are doing their bit.

We will embed a “prevention first” approach so that rough sleeping is better prevented before people reach the streets. This means ensuring the landmark changes in the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 are fully embedded, to prevent more people from reaching a homelessness crisis, as well as bringing forward investment so that nobody leaves a public institution, such as prison or care, to the streets. As part of this, we will provide new funding over the next three years to expand the accommodation for ex-offenders programme so that people at risk of homelessness, including rough sleeping, in all parts of England are supported into long-term, settled accommodation.

We will also empower local authorities by extending our flagship rough sleeping initiative to 2025, with up to £500 million of funding so that local areas can provide the tailored support needed to end rough sleeping over the next three years. We will complete delivery of the Housing First pilots in Greater Manchester, Liverpool city region and the west Midlands, providing a further £13.9 million over two years on top of the £28 million already invested, and expand Housing First more widely through £32 million within the rough sleeping initiative.

This will sit alongside £200 million of new funding for the single homelessness accommodation programme, which will deliver up to 2,400 much-needed homes for vulnerable people at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping, including young people and those with the most complex needs, alongside expanding existing accommodation programmes that we know work.

We will act across the system to reduce rough sleeping. We will ensure new local integrated care systems in the NHS consider the health and social care needs of those sleeping rough in their area in the development of their strategies. Jobcentres will work closely with local authorities to support people experiencing rough sleeping to access benefits and employment advice. We will be launching a new homelessness employer covenant with Crisis to help employers recruit and support employees who have been homeless or rough sleeping.

A quarter of people sleeping rough nationally are not from the UK, rising to nearly half in London. Since the pandemic we have seen local authorities looking to exhaust all options to support this group away from the streets; we want to see this continue. For those here legally but with restricted eligibility for public funds, we want to see them get appropriate support to sustain a life away from the streets. For those here illegally, we want to ensure people return to their home country swiftly and receive the appropriate support to do this.

As part of the strategy we are announcing allocations for areas in England in a range of key initiatives including the rough sleeping initiative, rough sleeping accommodation programme, rough sleeping drug and alcohol treatment grant and Housing First. Full details of allocations can be found on gov.uk.

While we have taken the significant step of committing to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 in full, we must make sure the police, local authorities and other agencies have the powers and tools they need to respond effectively to begging, support vulnerable individuals and help communities feel safer. Government are currently consulting on the need for appropriate replacement legislation to ensure the police and other agencies remain able to protect the public, while also embedding rehabilitation and support at the heart of our approach.

The whole of Government are united in ending rough sleeping. In order to achieve this, all partners, across central and local Government, voluntary organisations, delivery partners and the public must work together as one.

We want our ambitious approach to be matched by bold local delivery and expect all those involved in ending rough sleeping to play their part. We want to ensure rough sleeping is ended in a way that is sustainable in the long term, and this strategy lays the foundations for the long-term system change needed to support that.

This strategy shows that this Government are committed to ending rough sleeping, and we will continue to work with local and national partners to achieve this.

A copy of the rough sleeping strategy will be deposited in the Library of the House.

[HCWS283]

Work of the Department during the Summer Recess

Greg Clark Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Greg Clark)]

Since I was appointed on 7 July, I have been privileged to lead the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in its work to spread opportunity in all parts of the United Kingdom.

This statement updates the House on progress that has been made during the summer recess. All relevant documents referred to will be placed in the Library of the House.

We have delivered stronger local leadership.

A devolution deal has been signed with York and North Yorkshire to create a Mayoral Combined Authority comprising the City of York and North Yorkshire Councils and covering a population of 818,000 people. The deal, which is subject to ratification by the councils, includes a £540 million investment fund over the next 30 years, and over £22.5 million to support the building of new homes on brownfield land and to drive green growth in the area; the devolution of the adult education budget; an integrated transport settlement and confirmation that the Government are minded to provide additional support for the regeneration of the York central brownfield site, subject to an agreed business case. The first mayoral election would be in May 2024 and the new Mayor would take on the functions of the police, fire and crime commissioner. There will be a locally run public consultation, and the secondary legislation to implement the deal is subject to consent from councils and parliamentary approval.

A devolution deal has been signed with Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to create an East Midlands Mayoral Combined County Authority. The deal is subject to ratification by the councils, and to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill receiving Royal Assent. The deal includes a Mayor for the 2.2 million people of the area, to be elected in May 2024. Both the Government and the four councils place great importance on the involvement of the 15 district and borough councils in the area. The deal establishes an investment fund of £1.14 billion over the next 30 years—the joint largest of any devolution deal so far—over £17 million to support brownfield development and further investment, subject to business cases, of £18 million to support local housing and net zero priorities. The deal also includes devolution of the adult education budget and an integrated transport settlement. There will be a locally run public consultation and the secondary legislation to implement the deal is subject to consent from councils and parliamentary approval.

Other deals named in the levelling-up White Paper are progressing well, notably with councils in Suffolk and north-east England, and with Cornwall, as well as additional trailblazer deals with the west midlands and Greater Manchester.

We have taken decisive action to restore good governance to councils in England that have let down local residents, in Slough, Liverpool, Nottingham and Thurrock. In making interventions, we have established an approach that help from within the local area should be pursued wherever possible and we are grateful to Mayor Steve Rotheram for stepping forward to guide the future of Liverpool City Council and to Essex County Council for leading the intervention in Thurrock.

We have tightened rules to prevent councils in England from using creative accountancy to avoid the spirit of the financial frameworks which are there to protect taxpayers, and have advised consultancies that they should not facilitate such practices at the taxpayers’ expense.

We have published for consultation the draft policy and strategy statement for the Electoral Commission required by the Elections Act 2022, in which combating electoral fraud through so-called family voting in local and national elections is emphasised.

We have provided further opportunities to level up across the United Kingdom.

Round 2 of the £4.8 billion levelling-up fund was opened on 15 July and closed on 2 August. Over 500 applications have been made from every part of the United Kingdom. Analysis of the bids is currently taking place and results will be announced in due course.

Over 50% of the allocations from the future high street fund have now been made.

On 1 September we published, with the Welsh Government, the prospectus for a freeport to be established in Wales.

In addition to the eight freeports in England, good progress is being made towards the designation of green freeports in Scotland, in a joint process with the Scottish Government.

We have delivered for our communities and faith groups and protected vulnerable people.

The British people have now welcomed over 120,000 refugees from Ukraine through the “Homes for Ukraine” and “Ukraine Family” schemes. We would like to pay tribute to the work of Lord Harrington of Watford, who led the “Homes for Ukraine” programme.

We have supported the next phase of the welcome programme to support people from Hong Kong with BN(O) visas in settling into the United Kingdom.

With £1.3 million of new funding we announced a new deal fund to support faith groups to support vulnerable people and communities.

Nearly 90% of the £150 council tax rebate has been paid out by councils to residents.

Because everyone deserves a home that is habitable, whatever its tenure, we have launched a consultation on setting a decent homes standard for private rented properties.

To help people with the cost of living during this time of high inflation, we have launched a consultation on setting a lower cap on maximum social housing rent increases in 2023-24.

On 3 September the landmark rough sleeping strategy to end rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament was launched, on which a separate ministerial statement is being made.

We have accelerated moves to provide justice for leaseholders in buildings that are unsafe because of cladding.

We have reopened the building safety fund for applications.

We have worked with lenders who have agreed to restart lending on affected properties.

We have issued contracts to developers to make good their pledge to remediate unsafe buildings for which they are responsible.

We commenced the primary legislation that will enable us to establish an industry scheme to penalise developers who fail to discharge their responsibilities.

We launched a call for evidence to enable us to address the specific problems of leaseholder-owned and commonhold buildings.

We have taken steps to increase the pace of development.

In order to accelerate development, we have set out measures to speed up the planning process for nationally significant infrastructure projects like nuclear power stations and offshore wind farms.

We have set out measures that will reduce the levels of nutrient pollution entering our most sensitive watercourses, thereby allowing stalled housebuilding to proceed while protecting the environment.

We have emphasised the importance of the beauty and the enjoyment of our built and natural environment.

We have strengthened the powers of councils to require takeaway restaurants to clear up litter they generate in our high streets.

We have launched the levelling up parks fund in England to create or restore 100 green spaces in our urban areas with the least access to parks.

A major planning application on the south bank of London has been called in for public inquiry to assess, among other things, the impact of the proposed development on the historic environment.

And we have extended the ability of cafes, pubs and restaurants to take advantage of the great British summer with al fresco dining.

I am proud of what has been delivered in eight weeks, and I am grateful to my officials in Government Departments as well as to partners in local councils, businesses and voluntary organisations across the United Kingdom for their intense work this summer. It shows what can be achieved to the benefit of all our citizens when people work together in joint endeavour.

[HCWS282]

Intergovernmental Relations Quarterly Report: Quarter 2 2022

Greg Clark Excerpts

Thursday 21st July 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Greg Clark)]

Today, the UK Government published the report of our engagement with the devolved Governments in quarter 2 of 2022 on gov.uk.

The report covers a period where we have seen unprecedented events, and gives an insight into the extensive engagement between the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive between 1 April and 30 June 2022. During this reporting period the Governments collaborated on a number of areas, not least in the further development and progress of the domestic response to the war in Ukraine, including the expansion of the Homes for Ukraine resettlement scheme to allow children and minors under the age of 18 to come to the UK in defined circumstances.

The report is part of the UK Government’s ongoing commitment to transparency of intergovernmental relations to Parliament and the public. The UK Government will continue with publications to demonstrate transparency in intergovernmental relations throughout 2022 and beyond.

[HCWS264]

Levelling-up Fund: Second Round of Applications

Greg Clark Excerpts

Friday 15th July 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Greg Clark)]

I am today opening applications for the next round of the levelling-up fund. This second round of the £4.8 billion fund will allocate further funding to communities across the United Kingdom, including investments in town centres and high streets, local transport upgrades and investing in cultural and heritage assets.

Prospective applicants have been developing their bids since the publication of the prospectus on 23 March 2022. In order to allow time for submission of bids via the online portal, applications will be accepted until midday on Tuesday 2 August.

It is important that the Government understand which bids enjoy the support of their local Members of Parliament, who represent their constituents. In order to reflect that some parliamentary constituencies cover more than one council area, every Member of Parliament in Great Britain will have the option to provide priority support to up to two bids.

I am determined to ensure that important levelling-up measures such as the levelling-up fund will be implemented at pace, and I encourage everybody to submit their bids for the fund now.

[HCWS207]

Levelling Up

Greg Clark Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The short answer is no. The longer answer is this: we work in partnership with the Scottish Government, and we recognise their devolved responsibilities, but people in Scotland pay their taxes to have two Governments working together for them, and that is what we have done. The levelling-up fund has ensured that there has been investment in North Ayrshire, in Edinburgh and in Aberdeen, to help communities and councils led by Scottish nationalist councillors, and that has been backed by SNP MPs. The UK shared prosperity fund has also guaranteed funds going to Scotland, ensuring that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Cornwall receive every bit as much outside the EU as they ever did within it, but with our control of that funding, not the European Union’s.

Today, we have announced additional funding for an innovation accelerator in Glasgow. In Glasgow University and the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow has two of the United Kingdom’s leading research universities. We are supporting and backing them. I explained to the First Minister last night how important it was that we worked together, and we will seek to work together.

When it comes to inequality, the Scottish Government have presided over growing inequality in education outcomes in schools in Scotland. We want to work with them to reverse that. When it comes to devolution, rather than devolving more powers to local government in Scotland, as we are doing in England, the Scottish Government have centralised powers. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has been eloquent in complaining about that. Again, that is a devolved matter, but if the critique from the hon. Gentleman is to carry force, it is vital that he recognises the beam in his own eye before pointing out the mote in others.

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

What the towns and cities of our country need is ambition, investment and encouragement, not the negativity and neglect that I am afraid they have experienced under the Labour party over the years. As a Teessider born and bred, and as someone who negotiated and signed the devolution deal with Teesside six years ago, I am proud to see it leading this White Paper thanks to the great progress it has made under Ben Houchen.

Does the Secretary of State recognise that building on such successful policy innovations is the best way to go, rather than needing to start from scratch in every case? In that context, does he recognise that the role of universities and scientific institutions, which are strong in the regions, is a good place to invest and to drive further prosperity across the UK?

[Michael Gove]

My right hon. Friend was a brilliant Secretary of State both for Communities and Local Government and for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He was, more than anyone else—apart from the former Chancellor, the former right hon. Member for Tatton—responsible for extending devolution across England. He is absolutely right: this is a model that works and on which we can build. He is also absolutely right to say that higher education is critical to the economic future of the north and the midlands, where we have outstanding universities. The increased research and development spending that we are announcing today will be directed towards those excellent institutions. Whether for life sciences in Newcastle, renewables in Teesside or materials in Manchester, we will be working with those universities to revive the north and the midlands.

Oral Answers to Questions

Greg Clark Excerpts

Monday 19th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Eddie Hughes]

I am delighted to commend my hon. Friend and the local teams and providers who have worked incredibly hard in Southend to achieve the figures that he described. They have worked tirelessly to achieve such a brilliant result and continue to work towards seeing an end to rough sleeping in his area. It is particularly heartening to hear him championing the cause of organisations such as HARP and Off the Streets, which have redoubled their efforts to support local people—vulnerable people—during the pandemic.

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect on local authority waste collections of HGV driver shortages.

[The Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government (Luke Hall) [V]]

We are working across Government and with the waste sector to better understand the issues facing waste-collection vehicle staffing levels. We are working with the industry and have already taken action on HGV driver shortages, including by ramping up vocational test capacity and funding apprenticeships.

[Greg Clark]

The Minister was good enough to meet me to discuss the poor performance of Urbaser, the company that has the contract for waste with Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling. Will he update my constituents on what action he has taken since our meeting so that we can see a rapid improvement to their service?

[Luke Hall]

I thank my right hon. Friend for raising his concerns again about the performance of Urbaser and for taking the time to meet me to explain in detail the concerning situation that his constituents face. It is something that we take extremely seriously. Following our meeting, I have written to Urbaser to ask how it intends to address the concerns that he has relayed. I certainly urge it to use every tool at its disposal to meet its contractual commitments and I look forward to working with him to continue to monitor this important situation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Greg Clark Excerpts

Monday 14th June 2021 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the performance of waste collection authorities.

[The Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government (Luke Hall)]

We have set a national ambition to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035. Councils will have a crucial role in meeting that target, and my Department will continue to work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and local authorities across the country to improve recycling rates, reduce emissions and reduce the amount of waste ultimately sent to landfill.

[Greg Clark]

Will my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to our bin men and women, who worked magnificently throughout the covid crisis, even at the risk of contracting covid during the worst times of the pandemic, to keep us safe, actually collecting a bigger volume than usual? Is he aware that in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling, there are growing concerns about the management of the waste contract by the company Urbaser, with collections missed and roadside litter uncollected? What can he do to put pressure on that company to meet the performance standards that it has agreed with the local authorities?

[Luke Hall]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his question and for the opportunity to pay tribute to our waste collectors and the work that they have done right across the country throughout the pandemic, keeping our communities clean and helping to keep them safe, too. Of course, it is for councils themselves to decide how best to meet their commitments and how to manage the performance of their contractors, but my right hon. Friend’s voice carries significant weight. I am sure that his point has been heard loud and clear. I hope that it is resolved as quickly as possible. I know that these are extremely important issues for his constituents and for residents across the country, and of course I am happy to meet him to discuss the matter in more detail.

National Security and Investment Bill

Greg Clark Excerpts

Consideration of Lords amendments
Monday 26th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Paul Scully]

I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s enlightening words about his intention. I can indeed confirm that the memorandum of understanding is flexible. The ISC does good work and continues to do so, and I look forward to working with him.

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is giving helpful clarification. The Secretary of State wrote to the Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and copied in the Chair of the ISC and me as Chair of the Science and Technology Committee. Will the Minister confirm that he is prepared to commit in a memorandum of understanding to the Chairs of those Committees being able to see, on Privy Council terms, information that might not be otherwise in the public domain?

[Paul Scully]

We have got to the nub of the matter quickly. I can indeed confirm that. In the letter the Secretary of State sent to the Chair of the BEIS Committee, copying in my right hon. Friend the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, he spoke about the fact that the BEIS Committee is able to access the material it needs to scrutinise the work of the ISU, including for example details of some of the risks that the ISU has identified under the NSI regime and the measures taken to address them. As part of that, the Secretary of State confirmed that the Department can provide the Chair of the BEIS Committee with confidential briefings on Privy Council terms, and that he would be happy to set those out in more detail in either a memorandum of understanding or further exchange of letters. The Secretary of State went on to say that he would encourage the STC to provide scrutiny of the work of the ISU where the work of the unit falls within the specific remit of that Committee. He also welcomed the Intelligence and Security Committee’s continued scrutiny of the work of the security services, which will include where the security services’ work supports the work of the ISU.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Lewis]

Unfortunately, and I am afraid unusually for my right hon. Friend, he missed one little part that was missing in turn from the Minister’s answer, because the MOU as it stands does not include the Investment Security Unit. The MOU has a list of seven organisations that we can currently scrutinise. The whole point about flexibility is that, as these units are set up in other Departments, they can be added to the MOU, but the Minister has given no undertaking to add the ISU to the MOU. I am happy to give way to the Minister. If he would like to say that he will add the ISU—the new unit within BEIS—to the organisations listed in the memorandum of understanding, I will stop my speech immediately and say, “Well done, Minister,” but I fear that that is not going to happen, so I will continue with my speech.

The Government’s second argument is that the BEIS Committee is both capable of providing and best placed to provide the necessary oversight. I have the greatest respect for the work and experience of the BEIS Committee, chaired by the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones), from whom we will hear later. He and his Committee are indeed best placed to provide oversight of the business functions of the new Investment Security Unit, and there can be no doubt that that Committee will do an excellent job in that respect, yet it is simply impossible for it to provide substantive scrutiny of the highly classified national security elements or of the overarching decisions taken about how to balance them with the commercial elements.

Select Committees cannot be given proper access to top-secret material in order to scrutinise effectively. Ministers have suggested that the BEIS Committee can substantively scrutinise such material, but that is impossible. While it is true, as we have heard tonight, that the provision of classified information can be negotiated with Select Committees on a case-by-case basis, the laying out of classified material in a secure room in the Department for Members to come in and read for an hour or so—but without allowing them to take any notes, without allowing them to retain it, without allowing them to share it with their staff, without allowing them to discuss it and without allowing them to report on it since any one of those would constitute a very serious security breach—does not amount to effective oversight.

Proper oversight of the national security elements of any decision under this new regime within BEIS must include the ability to access, analyse and discuss top-secret material frequently and fully. The Government already have one body, and only one body, that can do all those things and that they created for that express purpose: the ISC. Members of the ISC are all subject to the Official Secrets Act and have a dedicated office with appropriate security facilities to store and discuss top-secret material freely, and staff who undergo the most stringent Government clearance processes before they are allowed to handle such material—I said in an intervention earlier that the staff of other Select Committees of this House are not so cleared. There is also a lengthy process through which the Committee’s reports must go ahead of publication.

[Greg Clark]

My right hon. Friend will know that the call-in power and the power to refuse permission for mergers to proceed on national security grounds is long standing. It is vested in the Business Secretary and sometimes in the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. During all this time, scrutiny has been available to the ISC on those decisions. Has my right hon. Friend found that deficient in some way?

[Dr Lewis]

I am not sure that without concrete examples of what my right hon. Friend has in mind, I am in a position to give an answer to that question. What I do know is that it is the work of the ISC, on a basis of professional, full-time constant monitoring, to be able to look at the activities of those agencies that cannot be looked at by other Select Committees. He seems to be talking about the power of Secretaries of State to call in decisions, and I am not sure quite how that relates to the work of either Select Committees or the statutory Committee, which is the ISC.

[Greg Clark]

Perhaps I did not explain myself well. What is proposed in the Bill is an amendment of the current powers. There is a long-standing power for mergers to be blocked on national security grounds. It is one of three grounds on which an intervention can take place, so this is not a new power or a novel departure. The ISC is able to scrutinise the security services’ input into that now, as it will be in the future.

Hospitality Industry: Government Support

Greg Clark Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2021 Westminster Hall

[Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to reverse roles, Mr Stringer, and to serve under your chairmanship.

Nearly 10 months ago, I asked the Chancellor in an urgent question to bring in an arrangement to reverse the usual flow of funds from businesses to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and for the nation to pay the wages of people if—and only if—their employers committed to keep employing them. At the time, I asked for that to be done for a few weeks, but 10 months later it shows how little we knew about the virus then that we should still have in place now what became the furlough scheme. I commend the Chancellor for a crucial intervention that saved millions of jobs that would otherwise have been lost. However, having come this far, and after the investment that has been made in keeping these businesses and jobs alive in the hospitality sector, we must make sure that we get through the next few weeks, so that they can continue to thrive in the future.

The furlough scheme, the business rate holiday, the hospitality grants, the discretionary grants, the VAT cut, the bounce back loans and eat out to help out have all been deployed to help hospitality businesses. However, just as the Government did not expect that this pandemic would be with us for what will soon be well over a year, neither did hospitality businesses, many of which are small, personally run and without access to resources and cash. Yet these are the pubs, cafés and restaurants that will be at the forefront of the recovery when lockdown ends—the first to give job opportunities to young people, to give business to their suppliers and to attract people back to our city centres, high streets and villages across Britain. They will also be first to pay their taxes to the Exchequer.

Last Friday, I met—virtually—several of the people who run hospitality venues in Tunbridge Wells and in Tonbridge and Malling, in a meeting arranged jointly with my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat). In a survey of 36 local hospitality businesses, they established that in the year before the pandemic they had collectively paid £4.4 million in VAT and pay-as-you-earn, and that the value of grants and furlough payments to date that have been paid to them is around £3 million. So whatever the precise figures, the point is that these businesses pay their way, and if they manage to survive they will thrive in the future and help to repay the sums that have been set aside during these last few months.

The requests of the businesspeople I met are straightforward, to make sure that they can get through the next few weeks. They ask for the Government to reconsider the requirement to pay national insurance on furloughed employees, given that, at the moment, zero revenue is coming in; to extend the business rates holiday and VAT cut, to reflect the fact that the closure of businesses has been for much longer than was expected; and to extend the terms of the loan scheme, so that these businesses can finance themselves for these crucial few months and so that, at the end of that time, everyone in this Chamber can join together and look back at a pandemic that is over, raising a drink and celebrating the success of continuing businesses.