Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant

(asked on 25th January 2022) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to to extend eligibility for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant to (a) gyms, (b) yoga studies and (c) other sports businesses.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 1st February 2022

The Government has delivered to Local Authorities over £700 million for grants to support businesses most impacted by Omicron, part of a £1 billion wider support package announced by the Chancellor on 21 December.

The Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant supports businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors. For the purposes of this scheme, the definition of a leisure business excludes gyms and sports businesses where physical exercise or training is conducted on an individual basis or group basis. The funding supports sectors where social mixing is a primary motivation for consumers.

Alongside the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant, more than £100 million worth of Additional Restrictions Grant discretionary funding has also been made available to Local Authorities in England to support other businesses severely impacted by Omicron. Gyms, yoga studios and other sports businesses may be eligible for this scheme. Local Authorities have discretion to allocate this funding to businesses most in need.

The Guidance for both OHLG and ARG schemes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities


On top of wider economic support, the Government announced a £100 million support fund for Local Authority leisure centres to ensure these important facilities remain available once public health restrictions are lifted.


Sport England has provided £270 million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds. This includes £8,991,129 on multisport projects which included yoga, and of which £108,573 was specifically to fund yoga.

Reticulating Splines