Thank you for contacting me about support for hospitality businesses and the Westminster Hall debate on current support measures.

I know that many hospitality businesses in West Worcestershire are experiencing serious challenges as a result of Covid-19.

I have been working on behalf of local businesses to help them to access support and raised anomalies in the system with the relevant Government departments.

The new variant and announcement of new restrictions across England will no doubt have come as a blow to many hospitality businesses, including pubs, restaurants and cafes.

To help support hospitality businesses through this difficult time, I welcome that decisive action has been taken and businesses have benefited from a combination of grants, funds, Government-backed loans and a business rates holiday. This has included cash grants of up to £25,000, business interruption loans, bounce back loans and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which has supported 1.4 million hospitality jobs. I am pleased the CJRS has been extended until the end of April 2021. Eligible closed hospitality businesses may receive grants of up to £3,000 per month.

Furthermore, in light of the England-wide restrictions, the Chancellor has announced additional grants for closed businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector of up to £9,000. In addition, the temporary reduction in VAT to 5 per cent from 20 per cent for hospitality and tourism businesses has been extended until 31 March 2021.

I know that the Chancellor is keeping the situation under close review to ensure that the most effective support can be made available when necessary. Likewise, the restrictions in place and will be kept under regular review and I will continue to follow any developments closely.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.