Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief to charities in receipt of charity rate relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided a comprehensive, coordinated and coherent package of measures to support all businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19, including one-off grants for small businesses that pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief or rural rate relief, to help meet their continuing business costs.
Charities operating in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will also benefit from the business rates holiday for these sectors, and grant funding for properties with a rateable value below £51,000.
On 8 April, the Chancellor announced a £750m support package for charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the COVID-19 crisis. £360m will be allocated by central government to charities in England based on evidence of service need. This will include up to £200m support for hospices, with the rest going to organisations such as the St John Ambulance and the Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as charities supporting vulnerable children, victims of domestic abuse, or disabled people. £370m will support smaller, local charities working with vulnerable people.
Charities will also be able to benefit from the range of other measures to support all businesses, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.