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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the hospitality sector of COVID-19 restrictions in the pre-Christmas period.

We know that hospitality venues are subject to significant restrictions under the new regional tiered system and that is why on 1 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3 who will miss out on much needed business during the busy Christmas period.

This additional support comes on top of other measures, which include:

• The extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until March 2021, where small and large employers will be eligible to apply for a government grant of 80% of workers’ salaries up to £2,500 a month;

• Businesses can continue to access our loan schemes, now extended, defer VAT payments previously due in March, and benefit from business rates holidays, a moratorium on eviction for commercial tenants and the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme;

• The availability of grants of up to £3,000 for businesses required to close in Tier 2 or Tier 3. Grants are also available from the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) scheme, which is a discretionary fund to support businesses which are not legally closed but severely impacted Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions, with funding of up to £2,100 per 28 days.