Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in businesses in (a) Leeds, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK that are ineligible to receive funding through the Small Business rate relief as a result of their employers paying business rates as part of their rent or through serviced office costs.
Answered by Paul Scully
Government has made £12.3 billion available to businesses under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. The schemes have been tied to the business rates system to provide a framework for local authorities to make payments to businesses as quickly as possible as these businesses are likely to face particularly high fixed costs, such as fixed rents.
As of 3 May, over 697,000 businesses in England have received grants under the two schemes, totalling £8.6bn. We do not hold data on the number of people employed by businesses that are not eligible for this grant funding. We have, however, published a full breakdown of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-localauthority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
On 1 May, the Business Secretary announced a further up to £617 million available to local authorities to support small businesses previously outside the scope of the business grant funding, such as businesses in shared offices and regular market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment. For more details, please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/top-up-to-local-business-grant-funds-scheme.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the increase in covid-19 cases in Yorkshire.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is responding to the outbreak of COVID-19 as a national issue and is actively implementing support plans across the nation.
More information can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2020 to Question 25731 on Small Businesses: Coronavirus, how much of the £12 billion will be spent in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is committed to supporting individuals, businesses, and communities affected by the Coronavirus. At Budget, the Chancellor announced £30 billion of support to help deal with the crisis by investing in public services, increasing support for vulnerable people, and providing businesses with tax reliefs and loans.
Significant further actions have since been announced, including: a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme allowing small and large employers to apply for a Government grant covering 80% of workers’ salaries up to £2,500 a month; cash grants of up to £25,000 for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000; and deferral of the next quarter of VAT payments for firms, until the end of June 2020, representing a £30 billion injection for employers.
Many of these measures are demand-led and their use will depend on decisions taken by individual businesses. As such, it is not possible to determine in advance how much will be spent in any particular region.