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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that customers are refunded the whole ticket price, including the booking fee, for live events that have been cancelled as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued guidance to explain to consumers and business the circumstances when refunds are due as a consequence of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government has always been clear that these refunds must be paid when asked for by the consumer.

The guidance is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.

The CMA has also created a Covid-19 taskforce and set up an online form to enable consumers to report any business they believe is behaving unfairly during the pandemic. The CMA has taken enforcement action in a number of cases as a result.