The Government has finally issued local authorities with detailed guidance regarding the Discretionary Grant scheme. This additional fund is aimed at small businesses who were not eligible for the Small Business Grant Fund or the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Fund. It widens access to support to businesses who are struggling to survive due to the Corona virus shutdown, but are unable to access other grant funding.
Applications for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant
Local authorities have discretion about who they award grants to and we are aware that our local authority, Broxbourne Council, are currently setting up the local scheme to allow submission of applications. For information, the guidance suggests grants should be aimed at:
- Businesses with relatively high ongoing fixed property-related costs
- Businesses which can demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in income due to the COVID-19 crisis
- Businesses which occupy property, or part of a property, with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000
It is suggested that local authorities may want to take into account the level of fixed costs faced by the business in question, the number of employees, whether businesses have had to close completely and are unable to trade online and the consequent scale of impact of COVID19 losses.
LA Discretionary Grant: How much funding will be provided to businesses?
Your Local authority may disburse grants to the value of £25,000, £10,000 or any amount under £10,000. The value of the payment to be made to a business is at the discretion of your local authority. Grants under the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund are capped at £25,000.
When will the Discretionary Grant be paid out?
It is anticipated that the first payments made under the scheme will be received by businesses by early June 2020.
I have employees on furlough – can I still apply?
Businesses who have applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme are eligible to
apply for this scheme.
Where do I apply for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant?
Contact your Local Authority Website – It is recognised that local authorities will need to run some form of application process as the potential beneficiaries are highly unlikely to be known directly by the local authorities. We will bring you more details as soon as we have them.
For detailed information visit Gov.UK by clicking here
HB Accountants are accountants for business. For financial and accounting guidance and support, please contact Keith or Karen. We’re still working hard to help you make the right decisions.
We are here for you during this difficult time. Our business contingency plan is in place and we will do everything we can to support our clients during this uncertain period, please do not hesitate to contact us here if you have any concerns or queries.
Visit our COVID19 Business Hub for more information
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The information contained above is for general guidance purposes only. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the contents are accurate, please note that each individual has different circumstances and it is essential that you seek appropriate professional advice before you act on any of the information contained herein. HB Accountants can accept no liability for any errors or omission or for any person acting on or refraining from acting on the information provided in the above
