Business: Northern Ireland

(asked on 13th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment his Department has had made of the adequacy of the economic support available for Northern Irish businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 20th January 2021

The pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the Northern Ireland economy and to the UK as a whole. Throughout the crisis the Government’s priority has been to protect lives and livelihoods.

We have taken robust action to support individuals and businesses in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland businesses and individuals have benefited from UK-wide support schemes and policies, including the Job Retention Scheme, Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the 5% reduced rate of VAT for the hospitality sector, and government backed loan schemes, such as Bounce Back Loans and the Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Around one in four jobs in Northern Ireland have been supported by the UK Government’s employment support package, with around 250,000 people benefiting from the furlough scheme and almost 80,000 self-employed supported through SEISS. In addition, £1.3bn in government-backed loans has been issued to almost 35,000 businesses in Northern Ireland.

The UK Government has also provided £3 billion in additional funding to the Northern Ireland Executive to support its response to Covid-19. This has funded a range of economic interventions locally, including business rates relief, grants for businesses, and tailored support for certain sectors, such as hospitality, which have been disproportionately impacted.

These policies have kept people in work, supported their incomes and supported businesses, delivering one of the most generous and comprehensive packages of support globally.

As measures to control the virus change, it is right that Government support should also evolve. The Government keeps all policies under review, and will continue to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support businesses.


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