Business support after delaying Stage 4 of the covid-19 roadmap

This House believes the decision to delay Stage 4 of the coronavirus roadmap until 19 July 2021 was, regrettably, the right one; recognises that this will be difficult for our constituents and for businesses that continue to be affected by restrictions on their ability to operate; welcomes the support the Treasury has provided to businesses and the self employed to date; calls on the Treasury to recognise that there is a strong case for further support to protect specific sectors of our economy; therefore calls on the Government to retain full furlough, self-employed income support, and full business rates relief, for at least six-months, removing the rateable value limit on business rates relief; further calls for new sector-specific ‘recovery grants’ with expanded eligibility, the extension of the 5 percent hospitality and tourism VAT rate, a Government-backed Covid-19 events cancellation insurance scheme, an extension of the ban on commercial evictions alongside a moratorium on landlords’ right to collect commercial rent to allow a fair arbitration process to be secured, and consideration to be given to writing of Covid loans for businesses worst affected and for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to be fixed so those groups excluded to date can access support equivalent to that provided through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.