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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of job vacancies in the hospitality sector; and what steps his Department is taking to help fill those vacancies.

We are in regular dialogue with the sector and are aware of the recruitment challenges facing businesses. The Hospitality Council is actively looking at this issue and the Government's Hospitality Strategy covers the sector's skills needs.

To help address labour shortages, the Department for Work and Pensions are currently using work coaches to help find local talent and Plans for Jobs programmes, as well as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.