Lockdown-hit businesses in Harrogate to get new Covid grants from Wednesday
Harrogate Borough Council says they'll start sending out payments from 27th January and are urging businesses to make sure their details are up to date.
Harrogate businesses forced to close during the third national lockdown will begin receiving the latest round of coronavirus cash grants in the next few days.
Harrogate Borough Council has announced it will start sending out payments from Wednesday 27th January and is urging businesses to make sure their details are up to date.
The council has been given more than £17.5m to hand out to lockdown-hit firms under the government’s Local Restrictions Support Grant and Closed Business Lockdown Payment schemes.
Businesses that are eligible for the support must pay business rates and have been forced to close because of the current national lockdown.
Under both schemes, there are three levels of grant payment which are determined on the rateable value of the business.
Businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will receive £6,001, while those with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 will receive £9,000.
In the highest level of payments, businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or over will be awarded £13,500.
Businesses do not need to apply for the grants, as long as their information previously supplied to the council during the November lockdown is up-to-date.
Residents who have more than one business premises will receive a separate grant for each.
The Local Restrictions Support Grant covers the 42-day period from 5 January to 15 February and if the national lockdown is extended, further payments will be paid automatically.
The Closed Business Lockdown Payment is a one-off payment to cover the current national lockdown restrictions.
In a message to business owners, the council said:
“As your business received a grant for the lockdown in November, we will use the same information you supplied to make your next grant payment.
“It is really important that you tell us if there have been any changes in circumstances that could affect your entitlement to the grant payment.
“If you do not tell us about a change in circumstances, and your business receives a grant it is not entitled to, the grant will need to be repaid. We will prosecute any business which falsifies records or knowingly provides, or allows, false information to be used in an application for grant support.”
The council is also set to launch a second phase of the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme for which it has received £1,428,670.
It will be up to the council to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and which to target under this scheme.
The government has encouraged the council to focus on firms which were not legally forced to close during the lockdown but have still been severely impacted by the restrictions.
For more information go to www.harrogate.gov.uk/business-support