PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Beer and Public Houses: Coronavirus (9 November 2020)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what sector specific support is being provided for (a) independent brewers and (b) public houses during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown restrictions period.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

The Government recognises that breweries and public houses have been acutely disrupted by recent necessary restrictions to the hospitality sector. That is why the Government has extended the unprecedented package of support measures, to protect businesses and jobs. This includes:

• An extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the end of March
• Cash grants of up to £3,000 per month to help businesses that are closed with their costs, including paying their supply chains
• £1.1 billion of Discretionary Grant funding for local authorities to target support to the businesses that are most important to their local economy
• Plans to extend existing loan schemes to the end of January and an option to top-up Bounce Back Loans
• A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England until the end of March, worth £10 billion in tax foregone.

Independent breweries have and will continue to benefit directly from Government support schemes, and indirectly from the support offered to the pubs and restaurants they supply, protecting jobs in the industry. The Government is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on the sector and to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support this sector.

Answered by:
Mrs Kemi Badenoch (Conservative)
17 November 2020