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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the financial viability of dog kennels, catteries and other animal boarding facilities.

The Government understands the considerable difficulties faced by UK businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Animal boarding facilities have not been required to close at any point during the pandemic, as there remains a requirement to care for the pets of people hospitalised from Coronavirus and for key workers, and vulnerable people who may not be able to care for their pets. Wee have advised pet owners[1] that they may leave their home to access animal boarding services. This should be by appointment only, and only if the boarding service does not offer a collection or drop-off service.

The Government has put in place a range of business support measures since March 2020. These include loans, small business grants through local authorities, mortgage holidays and VAT deferral. These measures have been updated in line with local and national restrictions. In November, at the beginning of the second national lockdown, Government made available £1.1bn in discretionary funding allocated to each local authority to support businesses via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). This was topped up with a further £500m in January 2021.

Local authorities have significant discretion in the businesses they support and the amount of grant funding per business based on local priorities.

Given the new national restrictions, other amendments now include:

• extending the coronavirus job retention scheme to support the wage costs of employers until end of April 2021.
• Increasing the overall level of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant to 80% of trading profits covering November to January for all parts of the UK.
• Extending the Bounce Back Loan Scheme application deadline to the end of March 2021, to further support eligible firms who need it during this ongoing period of difficulty.

We would always encourage businesses that have been unable to access support, or who are unsure about what support is available, to contact their nearest Business Growth Hub for advice. The Government has established a network of 38 of these hubs, one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area in England. Businesses of all sizes are able to access free, tailored guidance from expert advisers who make up the Hub teams. All contact details are online www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/.

The free Business Support Helpline offers advice to businesses across England (FREEPHONE 0800 998 1098) provides with free, impartial business support.

Firms based in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can access business support through their devolved Governments.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-animals