Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support people who work in the travel industry following the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was designed as a temporary, economy-wide measure to support businesses while widespread restrictions were in place. To date, the scheme has succeeded in supporting 11.7 million jobs across the UK with employer claims totalling £70 billion, which has aided businesses and protected livelihoods.
Where applicable, travel agents can continue to apply for the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme through their local authority, which is open until March 2022. Throughout the pandemic, over £2 billion of discretionary business grant funding was provided to local authorities via the ARG to support businesses in their local area. Local authorities determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target.