Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library any contingency plans his Department has prepared in the event that additional economic support is required as a result of a further wave of covid-19.

Throughout the pandemic, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place a package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The cumulative cost to the government of the support has been £352 billion since the start of the pandemic.

Thanks to people’s hard work and sacrifice, supported by the success of the initial stages of the vaccine rollout, there is now a path to reopening the economy. We will continue to take a flexible but cautious approach as we review restrictions, and as measures to control the virus change it is right that government support should also evolve. Because of this, we will keep all impacts and policies under review.

To ensure that individuals and businesses have time to plan as the economy reopens in line with the easing of restrictions, schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, business grants and loans, and business rates and VAT relief are continuing beyond the end of the Roadmap.