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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of staff shortages in the hospitality sector, and if he will have discussions with representatives from the Hospitality Rising campaign in helping to addressing these shortages.

We are in regular dialogue with the sector and are aware of the recruitment challenges facing businesses. The Hospitality Sector Council is actively looking at this issue, including working directly with the Hospitality Rising Campaign through our Hospitality and Tourism Skills Board.

The ONS publishes data on staff vacancy rates in the sector. This was most recently estimated at 7.2%, and this rate has fallen for the past 4 months.