To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any consultations and conversations he has had with independent businesses in Northern Ireland about how to best maximise their benefit from the High Street Stimulus scheme.

The High Street Voucher Scheme (HSS) is aimed at proving a financial boost to support local businesses impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I have had numerous conversations with and visited both independent businesses and larger outlets, across Northern Ireland, over the past number of weeks including the retail, hospitality and service sectors to promote the Scheme. I have met with various organisations to ensure their understanding of the scheme and to incentivise sales into local businesses.

I am encouraged by the level of engagement from our retail, hospitality and service sectors where many local businesses across all parts of Northern Ireland have also further incentivised spending in their premises by offering additional savings or rewards. By helping themselves in that way, businesses are also helping their staff, suppliers and neighbouring businesses.

The Spend Local Prepaid cards are geographically restricted to spend in Northern Ireland. Merchants have been advised, through a set of FAQs on the NIbusinessinfo website, to set up as a Northern Ireland merchant to accept the card.