Social Enterprises and Sports: Coronavirus

(asked on 17th March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to provide support for sports clubs and social enterprises that have their activities and income affected by the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Nigel Huddleston Portrait
Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 23rd March 2020

Sports clubs and social enterprises form an integral part of this country and it is important they are given as much support as possible.

The government has announced a comprehensive and sizable package of direct fiscal support for business through tax relief and cash grants. This package means that all businesses eligible for small business rates relief and rural rates relief will receive a grant of £10,000 to help with the impact of Covid-19. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors can receive even more: up to £25,000 per business, if they have a property with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000.

This comes on top of business rates holidays given to several hundred thousand businesses and compensation for statutory sick pay. As the Chancellor said, we plan to go further with regards to employment support and supporting people's jobs and incomes.

Sport England have also issued guidance (https://www.sportengland.org/news/coronavirus-information-sector) to the sport and leisure sector to introduce, for an initial period of three months, significant flexibility for funding partners to reflect the current circumstances. Relevant funding partners can get in touch with Sport England using funding@sportengland.org or on 03458 508 508.

We will continue to engage closely with the sector and the Government will do whatever it takes to get our nation through the impacts of COVID-19.

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