UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has signalled that another Eat Out To Help Out Scheme, the state-backed programme that offered customers a 50% discount, up to £10, on meals and soft drinks on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays last August would not be needed again. Speaking to BBC Radio’s Newsbeat, he said the government “doesn’t have the same concern we had a year ago” about how people would react when restrictions were eased last summer.
He also talked about there being “a big concern that people wouldn’t go out and about” and used the scheme to encourage people to support hospitality businesses again, adding “it is a scheme I am proud of.”
Said Sunak, “The scheme was about trying to protect as many of those millions of jobs, of people employed in bars and restaurants up and down the country, and that’s what it did. And we know that it did that. It got people back into work, it protected jobs and that is why I am glad it did what it needed to do.”
Last year, the Treasury said more than £849m was claimed by businesses taking part in the scheme as they served more than 160 million discounted meals. More than 49,000 restaurants, pubs and cafes took part in the scheme.