To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the need for support during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown for (a) breweries and (b) other businesses within the hospitality supply chain that do not qualify for covid-19 Government grants.

The Government recognises that breweries, and other businesses within the hospitality supply chain have been acutely disrupted by recent necessary restrictions to hospitality businesses. Throughout the crisis the Government’s priority has been to protect lives and livelihoods. The Government has acted to deliver support to these businesses through:

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which has supported 1.4 million jobs across the hospitality sector, and has been extended until the end of April 2021.
• Local Authorities (in England) have been given an additional £500 million of discretionary funding to support local businesses. This builds on the £1.1 billion discretionary funding which local authorities in England have already received to support their local economies and help businesses impacted. Local Authorities have discretion to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target.
• A VAT deferral ‘New Payment Scheme’ whereby businesses which deferred their VAT due between March and June until March 2021 will have the option of making 11 payments spread throughout the year rather than one lump sum.
• Access to affordable, Government backed finance through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBLS) for and larger firms, along with the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL) for small and micro enterprises.
• A reduced rate of VAT (5 per cent) to goods and services supplied by the tourism and hospitality sectors.
• A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England, saving around 350,000 ratepayers a combined £10bn.

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.