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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether providers of complementary medicine teaching who have been unable to deliver practical training in close contact services since 5 January 2021 are eligible to apply for Local Restrictions Support Grants; and if he will make a statement.

The Government has introduced an unprecedented package of support for businesses that are required to close, or which are severely affected by the restrictions put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives.

The Local Restrictions Support Grant provided grants of up to the equivalent of £4,500 for each 6 weeks of closure for those businesses mandated to close during the National Restrictions. Local Authorities are responsible for managing grants schemes locally and determining eligibility.

For those businesses who did not qualify for the Local Restrictions Support Grant further support maybe available through the Additional Restrictions Grant. The Chancellor has announced an additional £425m will be made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant meaning that more than £2bn has been made available to Local Authorities since November 2020. Local Authorities are free to provide support that suits their local area including to support those businesses not required to close but which have had their trade severely affected by the restrictions.