Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions has he had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the rejection of wholesalers from Local Authority Discretionary Funds.

Local authorities in England have received an additional £500 million of discretionary funding under the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme to support their local businesses. This builds on the £1.1 billion of discretionary funding which they have already received to support their local economies and help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

It is up to each local authority to determine eligibility for this scheme based on their assessment of local economic need. However, we encourage local authorities to support businesses which have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, but which are ineligible for the other grant schemes, this can include suppliers to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.

Businesses which do not receive grant funding should be able to benefit from other aspects of the Government’s unprecedented package of economic support including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and Government-backed loans.