Public Health Restrictions: Government Economic Support

Julian Knight Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

It has not. It has provided a universal offer to all firms that are able to be open, for exactly the reason at the heart of her question. She is quite right that the displacement impact goes far beyond areas in tier 3 or tier 2. Businesses supplying them are affected. We had a question earlier about support for the fishing industry. One of the key challenges with the fishing industry was exactly the point to which she refers—they were supplying other businesses that had been affected, and that is why we put £10 million of support into that sector.

We have taken a universal approach. It is at odds, though, with the questions we often get in the House, which are very much about whether we can support this sector or that sector. We have taken a universal approach because we recognise that one cannot necessarily draw a geographical line around the suppliers of businesses that are impacted.

[Julian Knight (Solihull) (Con)]

On Sunday evening, Mayor Andy Street was told that Solihull would be in tier 1. The day afterwards we appeared in tier 2. Does the Minister recognise the crushing blow that that gives to the hospitality industry and that tier 2 is economically the worst of all possible worlds?

[Steve Barclay]

I think we all agree in this House that we want to do all we can to get the virus down and get businesses open. We do not want businesses to be in tier 2 or indeed tier 3. We want to support them so that they are able to function as much as possible.

The timing of moving between different tiers is shaped by a range of factors—the number of positive tests, the amount of testing that is being done, the views of the local director of public health and the views of local leaders such as Andy Street. We all want to ensure that as many businesses as possible remain in tier 1.