Economic Update

Rehman Chishti Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that we will get it done, we will do it at pace and we very much agree that it is important to protect people’s jobs. That is the security we want to provide.

[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

I very much welcome the Chancellor’s statement and all that the Government are doing to support individuals and businesses in my constituency. I have a specific point for him that has been raised with me by the chairman of Gillingham football club. They are in league 1, but this also covers clubs in league 2. A lot of the matches for those clubs have been postponed. They rely on matchday income to support them. What will be done to work with those smaller football clubs and organisations to ensure that their Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue payments are dealt with adequately and that they are given soft loans over a certain period to ensure that they can get through these challenging, difficult circumstances?

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend’s football club, like many others, will be eligible for the business rates relief measures and grants that I have announced today. On HMRC, we activated Time to Pay last week, and there are now 2,000 specific, dedicated HMRC officers ready to take the calls of businesses such as Gillingham football club, in order to provide exactly what he suggested: a deferral for their tax payments and an agreed schedule for paying them back.