MPs request information on support for businesses following Omicron case spike

The Treasury committee has today requested further information on whether the Treasury will provide additional support to businesses affected by the Omicron strain.

In a letter to the chancellor of the exchequer, the committee chair asks what additional plans the Treasury is working on to support businesses that are adversely affected by increasing Covid cases and the Government’s instruction for people to work from home.

The correspondence follows a recent evidence session on the Work of the Treasury, during which Sir Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, told the committee “We cannot predict or speculate on future circumstances but, as at every other point in the pandemic, when things change, the Treasury is ready to take part in a discussion about how it should respond to that change and support Government Ministers in that. That is the position we are still in.”

The committee also asks to see the Government’s economic impact assessment of the “Plan B” restrictions.

Commenting on the correspondence, Mel Stride MP, chair of the committee, said:

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that businesses across the UK, particularly those in hospitality, will be hit hard by the Omicron variant and people returning to working from home.

“It’s unclear how Omicron will play out economically, and it is possible that its health and economic consequences may pass through relatively quickly. Let’s hope so. But in the short term, working from home and the changes in the way that people are engaging with the economy are having an immediate and very difficult impact on specific areas of the economy, particularly in those where the Christmas period is vital. It is therefore important that the Treasury sets out its thinking on the targeted support that it might be able to bring forward.

“We look forward to receiving the Treasury’s response.”