Business Secretary Alok Sharma and Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, Simon Clarke, spoke to local authorities in England on May 1 to explain that an additional £617 million would be made available to help small businesses in regions around the UK. This is in addition to the £12.33 billion funding previously announced for the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF).
This additional fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs and local authorities have been asked to prioritise businesses in shared spaces, regular market traders, small charity properties that would meet the criteria for Small Business Rates Relief, and bed and breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates. Local authorities may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need. The allocation of funding will be at the discretion of local authorities.
Businesses must be small, under 50 employees, and they must also be able to demonstrate that they have seen a significant drop of income due to Coronavirus restriction measures.
There will be three levels of grant payments. The maximum will be £25,000. There will also be grants of £10,000. local authorities will have discretion to make payments of any amount under £10,000. It will be for councils to adapt this approach to local circumstances.
City of York Council has been quick of the mark in announcing that it is gearing up to deliver the new government grant scheme to local businesses.
The City is to receive £2.2 million to help support small and micro businesses that do not qualify for the existing grants or the self-employed income support, a figure which represents the 5% ‘uplift’ promised to councils on the amount received through the coronavirus grants for small businesses and those in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
Final details have yet to be set by the Government but the scheme is broadly designed to help: Small companies in shared offices or other flexible work spaces; science parks and incubators which are not assessed for business rates; market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment; B&Bs which pay council tax instead of business rates and charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.
Grants will be made available to businesses with fewer than 50 employees which face ongoing fixed building-related costs. To qualify, applicants must have been trading since before March 11 and be able to demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in income due to Covid 19.
Councill Andrew Walker said: “These are extremely challenging times for the people who run York’s businesses. From day one it’s been our priority to get relief into business’ bank accounts as securely and quickly as possible, with over £105 million distributed in a matter of weeks, nearly 90% of previous grant announcements. We’ll do the same with these grants, and are working with neighbouring councils to make sure that, as resources allow, there is as much consistency as possible.
Councils around the UK are urging the Government to update them with final details of the regulations as soon as possible, as whilst scale of the financial award to local authorities has been fixed, the number of qualifying businesses and charity properties is an unknown quantity.
Image by VistBritain/Andrew Pickett The Shambles is an old street in York, England, with overhanging timber-framed buildings, some dating back as far as the fourteenth century.
