Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the recall of undistributed covid-19 business support grants provided to Newcastle City Council.

The Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF), the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) and the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF) were part of an unprecedented package of support for businesses in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. My department worked with HM Treasury on the design and delivery of these funds.

We have been clear with local authorities throughout that any unspent funds would need to be returned to the Exchequer. The schemes closed on 28^th August 2020, with all payments made by 30^th Sept. Local authorities have now received guidance on the reconciliation process.