My hon. Friend has a huge amount of knowledge of the steel sector and is a huge champion for Scunthorpe. She knows that we are working incredibly hard with the company in her constituency, and we are waiting for it to respond to the business plans going forward. We know how important virgin steelmaking is,

and we accept, because technology has moved on, that going forward 90% of all steel can be made in electric arc furnaces.

My hon. Friend is first and foremost an advocate for the steelworks and steelworkers in her constituency. Obviously that letter will be on its way, and I thank her so much for raising it.

To support smaller farms wishing to apply for a Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2023 grant we have reduced the minimum grant from £2,000 to £1,000 and introduced a range of lower priced items on to the list.

My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for the steel industry, and this Government remain committed to a thriving UK steel industry. That is why our support for steel includes nearly £800 million in relief for electricity costs and steel companies are eligible to bid for up to £1.5 billion in capital grant to speed their transition to net zero steel production.

The Government is committed to supporting all households with the current cost of living, through the Help for Households initiative. This includes serving personnel and veterans. Veterans are able to access all the support that the rest of the UK is eligible for, including the Energy Price Guarantee, Cost of Living Payment and the Disability Cost of Living Payment.

Through its Veterans’ Welfare Service, Veterans UK provides one-to-one welfare support and advice to veterans or anyone supporting a veteran, their families and dependants. We are also working with the charitable sector to continue to signpost dedicated support available to veterans.

People who have low, or no, income or earnings and are unable to work due to having a health condition or disability, can claim Universal Credit. This includes people who are unable to work pending treatment, including elective surgery.

Claimants are required to provide medical evidence, most commonly a fit note, to support their claim of being unable to work. After four weeks the claimant will be referred for a work capability assessment (WCA).

A WCA is a functional assessment of what a claimant can do as well as what they cannot do. WCAs are undertaken by DWP’s contracted healthcare provider. The outcome of the WCA is used by a DWP decision maker to decide if the claimant:

• has limited capability for work (LCW) or
• has limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA), or
• is fit for work.

Claimants who are determined to have LCW or LCWRA have:

• a work allowance, and
• in couple claims where one is working, access to help with childcare costs.

Those who are determined to have LCWRA are entitled to the award of an additional amount of benefit – the LCWRA addition – which is £343.63 per month.

Universal Credit also includes additions to provide support, where eligible, for housing costs, children and childcare costs and support for carers.

People who are sick and unable to work may also be eligible for Employment and Support Allowance, subject to satisfying the National Insurance contributions’ eligibility conditions.

The Department is investing billions in local growth funds—including the towns fund and the levelling-up fund, which I mentioned earlier—to deliver regeneration across the UK as we level up across all parts of the country. Our high streets strategy, published earlier this year, outlined our vision for supporting thriving places. We have an ambitious agenda for improving opportunity, living standards and public services, and for renewing pride for the whole of the UK. That will be set out in our upcoming levelling-up paper.

I agree with my hon. Friend: parking policies are important in supporting high streets to thrive. That is one of the reasons why, in the build back better high streets strategy, we announced a package of measures to make parking more accessible. I thank her for the strong support she has shown for North Lincolnshire’s levelling-up fund bids. She will know that we expect to announce the outcomes later.

We are providing the hospitality sector with a wide package of support. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses.

On 5 January when the new National Lockdown began, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a one-off top up grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring. A £594 million discretionary fund has also been made available to support other impacted businesses.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and I meet regularly with key stakeholders to determine the impact of COVID-19.

In respect of stakeholders representing community pharmacy, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I have hosted regular meetings with a wide range of primary care stakeholders, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, to discuss the pressures community pharmacies are facing and what further support they need to be able to support patients in their communities.

I will be hosting further meetings with community pharmacy stakeholders shortly to discuss winter planning, further rises in COVID-19 infections and the implications for community pharmacy and their communities. I visited a community pharmacy on 22 September to discuss the role of community pharmacists and their teams in supporting patients during COVID-19.

A full suite of guidance currently available to the sport sector is published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-phased-return-of-sport-and-recreation.

We have published guidance specifically on the return of outdoor sport and recreation and organised sport and physical activity; we have published guidance to support the return of elite and professional sport to training and competition behind closed doors; and we are now working to facilitate the return of spectators to elite and professional sport. A multidisciplinary working group, including medical directors from a number of sports, has produced draft guidance around the return of spectators to stadia, under which a number of pilots will operate from the end of July, aiming for a full return of spectators to stadia with social distancing from Oct 1st.

The Government has delivered a comprehensive and sizable package of direct fiscal support for business through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support.

The government is continuing to work closely with the sector to understand the issues they face and discuss how we can support them further.