Extracts from Commons debate on Covid-19: Hospitality Industry - Mar 24
Thursday, 25 March 2021 08:01
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab):...The pandemic and
the uncertain future falls hard on the low-paid, who dominate the
hospitality sector, as do the under-25s. Hospitality workers are
more likely to have lost their jobs than have been furloughed, so
they make up a significant proportion of the skyrocketing number of
universal credit claims—there are more than 17,000 claimants in my
constituency. Behind each one of our hospitality businesses are
many others in the supply chain:...Request free trial
(Brentford
and Isleworth) (Lab):...The pandemic and the uncertain future falls
hard on the low-paid, who dominate the hospitality sector, as do
the under-25s. Hospitality workers are more likely to have lost
their jobs than have been furloughed, so they make up a significant
proportion of the skyrocketing number of universal credit
claims—there are more than 17,000 claimants in my constituency.
Behind each one of our hospitality businesses are many others in
the supply chain: from companies that provide towels and cleaning
to taxis, musicians event organisers, wholesale
food suppliers and many more—businesses that have missed out on
most of the covid relief schemes...
(Tiverton and Honiton) (Con) [V]:...It is
clear from our inquiries over the last year that it is not only
cafés and pubs that need extra support, but also the small and
medium-sized food-and-drink businesses that supply them. The
Government’s support for hospitality will be only partially
successful if supply chains collapse, and the same is true of the
wedding industry. Large venues such as Deer Park country house in
my constituency have received a good amount of support from retail,
leisure and hospitality grants, as well as the new restart grants.
However, it has been more difficult to target support for the
florists, cakemakers, dressmakers, photographers, caterers,
and musicians who rely on the
weddings and events industries for their businesses. The Government
have generally gone for a “catch-all” approach, which I understand,
instead of sector-specific support, but that has left some hard
cases and a lot of confusion for some sectors...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
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