PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Food: Wholesale Trade (2 October 2020)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of a Federation of Wholesale Distributors survey that without business rates relief in the next month 65 per cent of food and drink wholesalers surveyed will be either very likely, likely or somewhat likely to make redundancies.

Asked by:
Bob Blackman (Conservative)

The Government has provided unprecedented levels of support for workers and businesses to protect, as much as possible, against the current economic emergency. Food and drink wholesalers are eligible for a number of these support schemes, with the most relevant likely to include:

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help keep millions of people in employment;
• £10,000 cash grants for all business properties in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief and Rural Rates Relief;
• The Bounce Back Loan Scheme for small businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, with no interest payments or fees for the first 12 months.

Food and drink wholesalers have also benefited from the recent Eat Out to Help Out Scheme which provided over 100 million half price meals during August and helped to protect the livelihoods of the 1.8 million people working in the hospitality sector.

Answered by:
Steve Barclay (Conservative)
12 October 2020