Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate funding to local authorities to enable them to create their own discretionary business support schemes based on local information.

The business grant funds, including the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund, were primarily intended to support small businesses which faced high fixed property-related costs during the strict lockdown period, when consumer footfall was dramatically reduced. Just under 900,000 business premises have received over £11 billion in grants from the three business grant funds. As most businesses in most areas are now able to reopen, it is right that we wind up the grant schemes, all of which closed to new applicants on 28 August. The Government continues to review the economic situation and consider what support businesses need. However, there are currently no plans to provide further funding to Local Authorities to enable them to create their own new discretionary business support schemes.

We do recognise that businesses which are forced to totally close for a substantial period in local lockdowns are likely to require additional support, which is why on 9 September the Government announced a new Local Restrictions Support Grant Fund, to enable Local Authorities to provide business properties which are required to shut due to nationally-imposed local lockdowns with grants of up to £1,500 for each three week closure period.

Businesses across the country should also be able to benefit from the additional support measures which the Government announced on 24 September as part of the Winter Economy Plan. These new measures include:

• The new Jobs Support Scheme, which for six months from 1 November will see the Government contribute towards the wages of employees across the UK who are working fewer than normal hours due to decreased demand related to COVID-19;
• The SEISS Grant Extension, which provides additional taxable grant funding to self-employed individuals who are currently eligible for the SEISS and are actively continuing to trade, but are facing reduced demand due to COVID-19;
• Extending the temporary VAT cut for hospitality and tourism businesses to March 2021;
• Extending the deadline for new applications to four of the COVID-19 loan schemes to 30 November; and
• Help for businesses in repaying loans from Government-backed schemes through the Pay as you Grow scheme and allowing lenders to extend the terms of CBILS loans to up to 10 years.