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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) restaurants and (b) other businesses which choose to close in response to a lack of trade in tier 3 local covid alert level areas are eligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grant.

The Local Restrictions Support Grant is in place to support businesses that are legally required to close in Very High Covid-19 Local Alert Level places.

Additional funding has been made available to all areas moving to Very High Alert Level in the form of a one-off grant allocation to allow enhanced business support, including £60m for Greater Manchester. This can be used by these areas to establish a local discretionary grant scheme that could provide grants to business that whilst not required to close are nonetheless severely impacted. It will be for local partners to agree the priorities and levels of grant awards to be provided.