UK Government - 'Whatever it takes'...

The UK Government held the second of its new daily briefings on the UK approach to tackling COVID 19. The Prime Minister reiterated the government’s approach and was joined by Chancellor Rishi Sunak who outlined a rescue package, in addition to the £12bn announced in the budget. Key points:
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• The Prime Minister outlined that the government are increasing the capacity of the NHS, investing in research and development, and acting like a wartime economy.
• Chancellor Rishi Sunak noted that this is a public health emergency but also an economic emergency. He promised that the Government will do “whatever it takes”.
• The Budget outlined a package of measures to support business during the crisis. This is the next stage of the economic response.
  • £330bn of government-backed loans and guarantees that will be available from next week.
  • Secretary of State for Transport will announce a package to support airports and airlines in the coming days.
  • Stated Government actions are sufficient to trigger payments for those businesses with pandemic insurance.
  • For the hospitality and leisure sector there will be a business rates holiday and a £25k cash grant per retail and leisure business for those without specific pandemic insurance. The Welsh Government is currently thrashing out the detail on this and has promised the WTA a response as soon as it is worked out.
  • Strengthen support for people. In addition to the measures in the budget, mortgage lenders will offer a three-month "mortgage holiday" for those in financial difficulty due to the COVID-19 outbreak
• The Chancellor will give a statement to the House of Commons on the economy at 19.00 today.

 
Tourism Industry Council meeting - A meeting of the Tourism Industry Council was held yesterday led by the Secretary of State and attended by  a number of industry reps (including ALVA, UKinbound. UK Hospitality, ABTA, Hilton Hotels). The WTA is hoping to attend the next meeting. Key asks of Government raised at the TIER meeting reiterated points from today’s TIER meeting, calling for urgent/immediate action as follows:

• Long-term relief on business rates, PAYE, VAT
• Salary and redundancy support
• Measures from banks
• Urgent access to funds
• Budget measures for SMEs to be extended to medium and large businesses
• Support for landlords to look at sensibly phased payment schedules
• Mandatory closure to help with insurance for some parts of the sector (e.g. theatres and attractions)
• Tourism business advice and clarity on definitions

The Secretary of State confirmed that these will be fed into the Chancellor.
 
The WTA is continuing to chase the UK Government advice for tourism businesses and will share as soon as it is available.