12/10/2020
Discretionary Funding Available
You may receive a grant of up to £1,500 at the discretion of your local council if:
- Your business is required to close but you do not pay business rates
- If your business is not required to close, but has been severely affected, for example as a result of customer businesses being closed
Your local council will publish details of discretionary funding on their website.
Exclusions
- businesses which are able to continue to operate during the lockdown because they do not depend on providing direct in-person services from their premises
- businesses that have chosen to close, but have not been required to close as part of a local lockdown
- businesses that are still subject to national closures such as nightclubs
- businesses that have reached the state aid limit
If you already get state aid
The Local Restrictions Support Grant counts towards state aid.
Payments count towards the total de minimis State aid you’re allowed to get over a 3-year period – €200,000. If you have reached that threshold, you may still be eligible for funding under the COVID-19 Temporary Framework. The limit for the framework is €800,000.
Your local council will ask you to complete a declaration confirming that:
- You will not exceed the relevant State aid threshold
- You were not an ‘undertaking in difficulty’ on 31 December 2019. This applies only to the COVID-19 Temporary Framework
The undertaking in difficulty test does not apply to small and micro undertakings (less than 50 employees and less than EUR 10 million of annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet) unless they were already in insolvency proceedings, have received rescue aid that has not been repaid, or are subject to a restructuring plan under State aid rules.
How to apply
Visit your local council’s website to find out how to apply:
See: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council
For further information on discretionary funding, please contact Michaela Johns on 023 8046 1256.
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