COVID-19 Restrictions Fund
One-off taxable grants to be distributed by local authorities to bars, restaurants and other businesses required to close by the new regulations. As with the Business Support grants earlier in the year, businesses must be registered for Non-Domestic rates and the level of grant will be based on the Rateable Value of the premises:
Businesses that pay rates through their landlords rather than directly to a council are eligible to apply but will have to provide proof of a lease agreement in place.
Discretionary Business Hardship Fund
Taxable grant payments of up to £1,500 available to support businesses that remain open but are directly impacted by the restrictions.
Discretionary Fund
A fund of up to £11m being made available to help businesses that need support but don’t fall into the above categories. This will, for example, support soft play centres that have still been unable to open. Further detail on this to come.
Furlough
A fund of £9m has been set aside to finance the costs of re-furloughing employees by supporting the 20% salary contributions that is currently payable by employers. This will take furlough claims back to 80% of an employees’ gross salary for employers. One would assume this is only for businesses forced to close. More detail on this is still to be released.
As with all the above, no dates have been set yet for applications to open. If you require any additional information please, as always, do not hesitate to contact our team.
