Discretionary grant scheme now available for Cornish businesses
Cornwall Council has also been acting fast to pay vital covid business support grants
Last updated 20th Jan 2021
Businesses in Cornwall, who have been affected by the tier restrictions and the latest lockdown, are already being provided vital grant support, according to Cornwall Council
Cornwall Council is already providing vital grant support to businesses affected by the tier restrictions and the latest national lockdown which came into force on January 5, 2021.
Since the roll-out of funding, which came in to force on January 5th, the council has already paid grants to pubs that don’t sell food and rely on just drink sales. It has also been able to pay around 7,500 businesses who were closed when Cornwall was placed in Tier 3 (31 December – 04 January).
Another 11,500 businesses forced to close in the latest lockdown from 05 January 2021 will receive payments next week.
These are businesses who received Local Restriction Support Grants in November and will now automatically be paid the latest Local Restriction Support Grants and one-off Closed Business Lockdown Payments (one-off grants of £4,000, £6,000 and £9,000).
New discretionary grant scheme
Cornwall Council yesterday received confirmation of funding from Government for new discretionary grants.
The Additional Restrictions Grant scheme will see up to £11.5 million available for businesses in Cornwall who are not eligible for other forms of financial support but have been forced to close or are severely impacted during the third coronavirus lockdown from 05 January 2021.
Its policy for this Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme and the application form on who will be eligible is being put in place and the application form and full details of the policy will be available on the council’s website here on Wednesday 20 January 2021.
Businesses have until 23.59pm on Sunday, January 31, to apply for a one-off grant. Those eligible include businesses which:
• Have not previously received any form of coronavirus grant support
• Are Cornwall based and owned
• Have been legally required to close and are not business rate registered
• Have been severely impacted by the national lockdown which began on Tuesday, January 5, but are ineligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) because they have not been mandated to close. This will include a range of businesses who supply goods and services to the hospitality, retail and leisure sector; businesses supplying services to the visitor economy, such as holiday cottage management companies, and; businesses from the event sector such as caterers and event venues.
• Businesses with a rateable value of more than £51,000 who were eligible but did not apply for an Additional Restrictions Grant in November.
“As before our priority is to help businesses who have not been able to claim other grants or funds. This includes those who are excluded from the self-employed income support scheme. This could be due to them being set-up as a limited company and/or being a new business.”
Tim Dwelly, cabinet member for the economy, Cornwall Council
Applications will also be encouraged from a range of businesses such as food and drink producers and distributors, who, while not forced to close, have been severely affected because they supply goods and services to the hospitality, retail and leisure sector which are closed.
Cornwall Council also seeks to support businesses in the events sector such as caterers or event venues and other businesses that supply goods or services to parts of the economy that have been shut down.
"We’re particularly pleased we were able to make grants of £25,000 to larger pubs, hotels and hospitality in the summer. This new discretionary grant will remain available for others in a similar situation who have not yet had a chance to apply.
"These places employ many people and buy goods and services from many businesses in Cornwall and we want to help them survive this crisis.”
Tim Dwelly, cabinet member for the economy, Cornwall Council
The other instances of where businesses will need to apply (apart from the ARG scheme) are:
• Businesses which pay business rates, have been forced to close but did not apply for the Local Restrictions Support Grants in November 2020, will need to apply for this latest round of Local Restrictions Support Grants and the one-off Closed Business Lockdown Payment (one-off grants £4k-£9K)
• Business rated businesses which were not required to close, but have been severely impacted by the change in tier restrictions on December 26 when Cornwall entered Tier 2 and December 31 when Cornwall entered Tier 3 (December 26 to December 30 and December 31 to January 4).
The application forms for these grants will be posted on the Cornwall Council website as soon as possible.