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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to financially support clothing retailers experiencing reduced footfall during the recovery from the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognise that the recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak is not uniform across the retail sector.

The Government has provided an unprecedented package of measures?including grants, loans, and relief worth more than £300 billion. Retailers are benefitting from the removal of business rates for 12 months and have been able to access grants through the Small Business Grant Fund or the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Grant Fund.

Retailers have also been able to benefit from The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.