To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans
he has to expand the (a) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund and (b) the business
rate holiday due to the outbreak of covid-19 to (a) dentists, (b) osteopaths, (c)
physiotherapists, (d) veterinary surgeries, (e) providers of shared office space,
(f) financial advisors in retail premises and (g) language schools.
<p>The Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund
have been designed to support smaller businesses and some of the sectors which have
been hit hardest by the measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.</p><p /><p>The
schemes have been tied to the business rates system and rating assessments, which
together provide a framework for Local Authorities to make payments as quickly as
possible. Businesses in the business rates system are also likely to face particularly
high fixed costs.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Covid-19 crisis we have continued to look
at the performance of business support scheme and introduce changes, including the
recently announced Bounce Back Loans.</p><p> </p><p>On the 1 May 2020 the Business
Secretary announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to local
authorities. This additional fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed
property-related costs. We are asking local authorities to prioritise businesses in
shared spaces, regular market traders, small charity properties that would meet the
criteria for Small Business Rates Relief, and bed and breakfasts that pay council
tax rather than business rates. But local authorities may choose to make payments
to other businesses based on local economic need. The allocation of funding will be
at the discretion of local authorities.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans
he has to implement a London weighting to increase the £51,000 rateable value limit
for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.
<p>There are no plans to introduce a London weighting into the Retail, Hospitality
and Leisure Fund. The Department is in regular contact with local authorities to understand
the impact that the scheme is having on the ground.</p>
