Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to take additional steps to ensure that specialist music concert hauliers continue to operate from the UK over the next 12 months.

The Department for Transport is aware of the issues faced by specialist haulage operators. During UK-EU negotiations, specific arrangements for the specialist haulage sector were discussed in detail as part of negotiations, but the EU was unwilling to agree more flexible arrangements. We are in regular contact with the Road Haulage Association and Logistics UK to help the industry understand market access provisions under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We are also working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy who are considering support to enable touring by the creative industries sector to resume once restrictions on large performances are eased under the roadmap announced by the Prime Minister on 22 February.

The Government announced £4.6 billion in lockdown grants to support business and protect jobs in January 2021. This was on top of the extension of the furlough scheme to April 2021, £250 million in grants under the Culture Recovery Fund Second Round and extension of the coronavirus loan schemes to March 2021. The Budget, which will take place on 3 March, will set out the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs.