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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to support (a) pubs, (b) licensed premises and (c) brewing industries after the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government is working with the hospitality sector to develop guidance on safe ways for pubs, licensed premises and breweries to open at the earliest point at which it is safe to do so. Meanwhile, there is a significant package of financial support currently available to businesses in the hospitality sector to help the difficulties caused by Covid-19, including:

• Grants under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHGLF), the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund for eligible businesses;
• Government-backed loans through schemes such as the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS);
• Access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to furlough workers, which will continue in its current form until 31 July and then in a more flexible form from August until 31 October;
• A business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses for the 2020 to 2021 tax year; and
• The option to defer VAT payments due between 20 March and 30 June until 31 March 2021.

We continue to keep our support measures under review and to engage with the sector.