An extension to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to October will boost businesses and public morale

Businesses are telling me that an extension to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme until the end of October – like the furlough scheme – will be hugely beneficial, protecting jobs and continuing to entice people through the door.

The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme has been a small ray of light and hope in an otherwise dismal period, encouraging and enabling people to spend time away from their own four walls, and offering a much-needed boost to small, family-owned cafes and larger food chains.

Last week when reserving a table, I was delighted to find that many restaurants were booked out in east London; it was not so delightful for my family. Indeed, during the first week of the scheme, diners used it over 10.5 million times, adding a much needed boost to the hospitality sector.

In particular, seaside communities have benefited from the scheme. It’s inspired people to visit coastal towns, with Bournemouth seeing the biggest percentage point increase compared to July.

Although the discount is only available on food and soft drinks consumed on the premises, business owners are still being creative in the way that they service customers in order to survive. Eat-in establishments have also been offering collection and home delivery services. Family-owned Bramley’s Coffee House in Ormskirk, for example, has been providing an afternoon tea takeaway service for collection or home delivery, and individual birthday boxes, to accommodate those who are still reluctant to visit public establishments.

While I appreciate that the UK’s national debt is growing at a rate of £5,170 per second and that it has now surpassed £1 trillion (closer to £4.9 trillion if you factor in all liabilities), in order to help get the economy up and running again, businesses need to survive in the interim to prevent them from closing down. People also need the motivation to relaunch their businesses, believing that they have a chance of surviving, rather than succumbing to what many are regarding as inevitable – the end of their livelihoods and years of work invested into their passion.

But much to the dismay of many businesses, the scheme ends at the end of August.

Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrat Group, and myself, along with other Lib Dem representatives, are writing to Rishi Sunak with a request for an extension to this scheme, citing the reasons above. Councillor Malcolm says: “After speaking to eateries in my area, it is clear that the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme is a crucial lifeline to many independent food and beverage businesses. This scheme costs relatively little to the overall stimulus package and we must continue it for the foreseeable future to protect the 1.5 million workers in this much threatened industry.”

Clearly, when spirits have been at an all-time low nationwide, it’s reassuring to see that people are attempting to go out for enjoyment with family and are returning to pubs and restaurants.

When many businesses saw their sales fall to zero, post lockdown, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme has been crucial to their survival, especially when they still must operate at a lower capacity to comply with social distancing rules.

Unlike the health secretary and the education secretary, the chancellor has made the effort for timely interventions; this is the time for another one.

Rabina Khan is a Liberal Democrat councillor for Shadwell in Tower Hamlets Council