I share concerns about the future of pubs and the hardship caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The Coronavirus situation is rapidly evolving at present and the new variant of the virus is spreading fast. The Prime Minister expressed regret in announcing these new measures, but robust action is needed to bring the virus back under control.
While I appreciate that further closures will be unwelcome news for publicans, it is reassuring that the Chancellor has unveiled further economic support for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, including pubs. I have had regular updates from Paul Scully, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets and meetings to discuss further support for pubs and others in the hospitality sector. The Minister is very aware of the specific concerns of publicans and is working with the industry to share the asks for additional financial support with the Treasury. He is also aware of the affect that the tiered approach had on pubs whose customers could only attend with members of their households and has raised this with the health experts.
I know that many constituents have campaigned to be able to sell takeaway drinks, this has been a difficult decision, however, it is about tackling behaviours of people and making sure they are covid safe and not congregating outside of pubs offering a takeaway drink service. The minister has also fed this back to his colleagues in the Department for Health to discuss the way forward.
In regard to financial support, as you may be aware, new one-off top-up grants have been announced, worth up to £9,000 per property, to help businesses through to the spring. For those businesses not eligible for the grants, a £594 million discretionary fund is being made available by the Government as a matter of urgency. The new one-off grants come in addition to billions of pounds of existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.
In addition, to protect jobs, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until April in response to coronavirus restrictions, and to give people and businesses across the whole United Kingdom the certainty they need. Under the extension, the Government will pay 80 per cent of wages up to a cap of £2,500, with employers paying employer National Insurance Contributions and pension contributions only for the hours the employee does not work. Flexible furloughing will be allowed in addition to full-time furloughing.
I am pleased that a robust package of support has been introduced since the start of the pandemic. No pub or other business in the hospitality sector will be required to pay business rates in 2020-21. HMRC has made it easier to claim back the duty on any beer thrown away as a result of pub closures. I also welcome that the temporary reduction of VAT to 5 per cent has been extended by a further three months to the end of March 2021. Additionally, the Chancellor will defer VAT repayments through a new scheme until March 2022.
Please do get in touch if you are requiring further help with any of the financial support on offer.
