AQW 3951/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 30/04/2020
Answered On Date: 16/07/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the communications she and her departmental officials have had with the Minister for Economy on when the current exclusion of the sports sector from the £10,000 small business grants for the purposes of COVID-19 will be lifted; and when sporting clubs will have access to the £25,000 leisure, tourism and hospitality grants.

Answer:

I can advise that on 3 April 2020, Minister Hargey wrote to the Minister for the Economy, Diane Dodds MLA, asking that she consider including sporting businesses, such as Governing Bodies and clubs, in the Small Business Support Grant Scheme and to ensure that larger entities, that fall into the relevant NAV threshold, could apply to the Retail, Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure fund.

Minister Dodds advised in a letter to the Executive on 15 April, that she intended to include the sports businesses in the £25,000 scheme. The sports sector remains excluded from the Small Business Support Grant.

My officials have engaged on a regular basis with colleagues in the Department for Economy (DfE) in relation to the various COVID-19 relief grant schemes. That engagement will continue around identifying potential gaps where businesses, including Governing Bodies and clubs, are not eligible for any form of financial support.