To ask the Minister of Finance what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Economy regarding financial support, including through rates relief, for all businesses affected by the prohibition on dancing under coronavirus regulations.

Mr C Murphy

I have encouraged the Minister for the Economy to consider whether there is a need for further financial support for businesses. As I noted in the Assembly on 25 January, I am happy to work with any Minister who wants to bring forward a proposition for sectoral support, and I am happy to make a recommendation to the Executive on that basis. Ministers will, however, have to bring it to me; I cannot reach into other Departments and make their case for them. Nightclubs and similar establishments are covered by the omicron hospitality payment, which I announced on 23 December past. They have also benefited from a 24-month rates holiday since April 2020. Under the plans that I announced in the Budget, they will have no rates to pay in the first three months of the next financial year. Officials from my Department have also been working with representatives of the hospitality industry on proposals for retrospective support for nightclubs to compensate them for the period that they were required to remain closed while other businesses could reopen.

Mr C Murphy

As the Member says, on the back of advice from the Department for the Economy the weekend before last, we agreed to add hotels to the scheme. She will know that hospitality and support for businesses are not in my area of responsibility, but Land and Property Services has, thankfully, agreed to step up to that task. Some other people in the associated supply chains of entertainment will fall under the ambit of the Department for Communities, and others will fall under the ambit of the Department for the Economy. As yet, I have had no bids in relation to those matters. I think that Communities has been looking at some schemes, but, as I said in my opening answer, it is up to those with policy responsibility to bring forward a proposition that is supported by some evidence of need, and I am very happy to make a recommendation to the Executive on that basis.

Mr Catney

Minister, there is no doubt that you have a huge underspend across the Executive whilst small businesses and suppliers of our night-time economy, which are, I know, the responsibility of the Department for the Economy, have gone without support. Why is that money sitting in your coffers? Could it be used to uplift our hospitality industry?

Mr C Murphy

The Member was here this time last week when I made the January monitoring statement. I supported all the bids that came in. Every bid was met, and a proportion of money is left over. We are challenged next year in our budgets, so my objective and that of the Department is to try to maximise our carry-over in order to try to support public services in the next year and to spend out money where very good cases are now made for the provision of support to some people who continue to be affected by the pandemic, which we are still experiencing. Again, I am quite happy to look at the cases that are made by other Ministers. It is not the case that money is just languishing in the coffers: that money can be carried over. We are in discussion with the Treasury about the limits that we can carry over. We hope to carry over as much as we possibly can. We know that, even with the three-year Budget, a lot of public services will continue to be challenged. If a case is made for some of the businesses that the Member has outlined, I am happy to look at it.

Mr Beggs

First, the Minister will be able to find out, through his Department, whether some of the hospitality sector has not been given any support to date. It would be helpful if he could let us know if that is the case. Secondly, will he ensure that hotels that may have been fully let to government agencies, for which they were providing food and accommodation, will not benefit from the scheme? They have no need to benefit from the scheme because they have been operating at full capacity.

Mr C Murphy

The payments have been made, and the case has now been made for hotels to be included in that additional £40 million scheme. That will bring it up to somewhere in the region of £2·5 million. A number of hotels have been identified by the Department for the Economy that it says require support, and we are content to pay out on that basis. We do not have the ability to decide which other sectors in tourism and hospitality should receive support and say, "We think those people should be supported". The case for that level of support has to be made to us. B&Bs, guest houses and other things may not be included in the scheme because they have not been identified to us by the Department for the Economy as requiring support. We operate on the advice that we are given from those who have policy responsibility for that, and we put together a scheme to provide support. As for those who have had other business, hotels and hospitality were not required to close. Nightclubs were required to close over that period, and there is a recognition that they lost a lot of the Christmas trade that they would have otherwise got. If there is a case to be made that others did not lose that, I am certainly happy to look at it. I do not believe, however, that that case has been made to us.