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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many times he has met with (a) the Retail Sector Council and (b) the Hospitality Future Group in 2020; and whether he will publish minutes from those meetings.

The industry led Retail Sector Council, which I co-chair, meets three to four times per year. The Council has met three times in 2020, with the next meeting due to take place on Thursday 3^rd December 2020. Priority workstreams have been selected and agreed by industry and work is advancing. Minutes are published by the Secretariat on the Council’s website: https://retailsectorcouncil.co.uk/retail-sector-council.

BEIS Ministers meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders from the hospitality sector. I also chair a weekly hospitality round table with senior representatives of the sector.

The Hospitality Futures Group was established by leaders from within the hospitality industry to provide a forum for discussion on possible ways to support the recovery of the sector following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Group has met weekly since June 2020 and engages with a small number of Government officials.