Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department is providing to independent hospitality businesses to address he potential impact of a)business rates, b)employment costs, and c) VAT on those businesses.

The Government recognises pressures on independent hospitality businesses and is providing targeted support. On business rates, we have introduced permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, backed by a £4.3 billion support package including transitional relief to help firms invest and grow.

To support employment costs, we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500 and maintained NICs reliefs for younger workers and apprentices. Employers do not pay employer NICs on earnings up to £50,270 for employees under 21, or for apprentices under the age of 25. We have increased and extended the Hospitality Support Fund to £10 million over the next three years so we can continue to help more pubs, help more people into work and find more innovate ways to improve business productivity and sustainability.

The temporary Great British Summer Savings scheme reduces VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent on selected hospitality, leisure and visitor economy activities between 25 June and 1 September.