Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England that have not received support for their business as a result of being ineligible for Government schemes.

Throughout this crisis, the government’s priority has been to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods. We have put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change.

The government has put in place a comprehensive package of support worth over £280 billion, supporting millions of businesses and jobs, In the North East, 70, 400 jobs were furloughed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as of 31 October 2020. Businesses have also received billions in loans, tax deferrals, Business Rate reliefs, and general and sector-specific grants. In Jarrow, a total of 2, 400 jobs had been furloughed through the CJRS scheme as of 31 October 2020.

In addition, on 5th January, the Government announced an extra £4.6 billion to protect jobs and support affected businesses as restrictions get tougher. Businesses forced to close can claim a one-off grant of up to £9,000. Local authorities will also receive an additional £500m, to a total of £1.6bn, of discretionary funding to allow them to support their local businesses.

As measures to control the virus have changed, government support has evolved. We continue to keep all policies under review.