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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to offer financial assistance to the owners of small businesses that are required to close as a result of restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic and who can furlough their employees but not themselves.

Substantial grant support is being made available for businesses that are required to close or which are severely affected by restrictions put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives.

Businesses that are mandated to close due to the national or local Covid restrictions are eligible for up to £1,500 for each 14-day period of closure. Local authorities may also choose to provide grant funding for businesses via the discretionary grant schemes.

Further to this, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on the 5^th January an additional one-off top-up grant of up to £9,000 for business required to close. Additionally a top-up to the Additional Restrictions Grant of £500m has been announced, alongside the £1.1 bn of discretionary funds made available in November 2020.

The application deadline for three Coronavirus business interruption loan schemes – the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme – has been extended. Eligible businesses will be able to ‘top up’ existing Bounce Back Loans should they need additional finance.