Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Atherton Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the commitment the Government have made to infrastructure, including in the forthcoming integration infrastructure plan, but the levelling up is not just about rail, as the Chancellor said; it is also about the £4 billion levelling up fund and, most importantly, about the review of the Green Book. As Lord O’Neill and others have commented, that ensures that a whole range of projects better address the levelling up alongside the significant investment in rail and other transport infrastructure.

[Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con)]

Wrexham is a town partly founded on brewing. It is home to four breweries and 64 pubs; the figure pre-covid. The industry supports nearly 1,700 jobs and generates £11 million in taxes. While hospitality businesses such as the Magic Dragon Brewery Tap tell me that the UK Government’s furlough scheme and wider support packages have been a lifeline, their future remains bleak as the pandemic rolls into a second year. Will my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in his forthcoming Budget consider deferring business rates and VAT payments even further, so pubs can have a fighting chance of pulling another pint and keeping the ales in Wales?

[Kemi Badenoch]

The Government understand that this is a very challenging time for the UK hospitality sector, and we are constantly reviewing the package of covid-19 support. In order to ensure that decisions are made to meet these challenges, we will outline plans for 2021-22 business rates relief early this year, but my hon. Friend should let her constituents know that for existing tax liabilities the VAT deferral new payments scheme will allow businesses with deferred VAT to spread their payments over up to 11 equal payments to 31 March 2022 interest-free.