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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the (a) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and (b) Small Business Grants Fund so that businesses that pay business rates through their rent can directly benefit.

Businesses are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund if they are based in England with a property that has a rateable value of up to £51,000 and is wholly or mainly being used for the purposes of retail, hospitality and/or leisure. The Small Business Grant Fund is available to businesses with a property that on the 11 March 2020 were eligible for Small Business Rate Relief Scheme or Rural Rate Relief Scheme.

The Government has announced an additional discretionary fund to support small businesses that fall outside the scope of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund and the Small Business Grants Fund, including those in shared spaces who do not have their own business rates assessment, which have under 50 employees and have seen a significant drop of income due to Coronavirus restriction measures.