Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing tax relief for businesses which have enhanced safety measures due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Businesses should make every effort to ensure their workplace is COVID-19 secure to protect their customers and workers before they open.

The Government recognises this challenge and therefore set up ministerial-led taskforces last month to work with sectors to develop safe ways for them to reopen at the earliest point when safe to do so, as well as pilot re-openings to test businesses’ ability to adopt the guidelines.

In addition, the Government is providing an unprecedented package of support to help businesses through this period. Fiscal support worth £20bn has been directed to businesses in England through tax relief and cash grants to help them manage cash flow.

This package includes cash grants of up to £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 and further grants of £10,000 for several hundred thousand businesses eligible for business rate relief and rural rate relief. Further, the Government also removed all eligible properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector from business rates, so that no pub, hotel, or high street shop will pay business rates for 12 months.

The Government will continue to consider appropriate measures to protect lives and livelihoods during this period.