Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the letter entitled, Business Rates Support for all Leisure Businesses from the Local Government Association and others, dated 24 April 2020, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classifying coach operators as leisure businesses to enable those businesses to access covid-19 business rates and grant schemes.

The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief and business grants to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for Local Authorities (LAs) on the implementation of the business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure. Eligibility is based on the use of property, and it is for LAs to determine eligibility in line with guidance.

While certain businesses will not be eligible for business rates relief, they may still benefit from the wider business and employment support package the Government has made available, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and the deferral of VAT payments for this quarter. In addition, LAs can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses which have been excluded from the existing grants schemes if they consider there is a particular local economic need. To receive a discretionary grant, a business must have been trading as of 11 March and must not have received any other cash grant funded by central Government (with the exception of the SEISS).