East Suffolk Council
COVID-19: business grant funding
Local restrictions support grants (LRSG)
The latest business grant funding, to cover the national restriction measures put in place by Government, are as follows, you only need to apply once to receive the funding your business is eligible for under all schemes:
- A one-off payment for the 28-day period from 5 November to 2 December 2020 (this grant funding is only available to businesses that were told to close in that lockdown period)
- Based on this initial application, further support is available for those businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors to cover the Tier 2 restriction period during December
- Based on this initial application, further support is available to cover the Tier 4 restriction period from 26 December 2020 to 4 January 2021
- Based on this initial application, further support is available to cover the 42-day period of national lockdown from 5 January to 15 February
- A one-off payment to cover the national lockdown period from 5 January to mid-February known as the Closed Business Lockdown Payment (CBLP)
- Based on this initial application, further support is available to cover the 44-day period of national lockdown from 16 February to 31 March
| Business and venues which must close |
To qualify for these grants, your business premises must be in the East Suffolk area and have been:
- trading on the day before national lockdown restrictions came into force
- liable for paying business rates
- required to close due to Government lockdown restrictions for the November lockdown, Tier 4 restrictions and/or January lockdown periods
- be within the hospitality and leisure business sectors for the Tier 2 funding scheme
The value of the grant varies depending on the business premises’ rateable value:
| Rateable value of property | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £15,000 or under | £15,001 to £50,999 | £51,000 or over | |
| Grant for 28 days (November lockdown) | £1,334 | £2,000 | £3,000 |
| Grant per 14 day periods in Tier 2 restrictions (will be paid pro-rata to cover the number of days in Tier 2 restrictions) | £467 | £700 | £1,050 |
| Grant per 14 day periods in Tier 4 restrictions (will be paid pro-rata to cover the number of days in Tier 4 restrictions) | £667 | £1000 | £1500 |
| Grant per 42 day period (Jan-Feb lockdown) | £2001 | £3000 | £4500 |
| One-off grant payment (Jan-Feb lockdown) (CBLP) | £4,000 | £6,000 | £9,000 |
| Grant per 44 day period (Feb-March lockdown) | £2,096 | £3,143 | £4,714 |
Please note; All LRSG schemes have a closing date of 31 March 2021, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
You only need to apply once for all LRSG schemes in place. We will automatically calculate and pay all appropriate business support grants, including the CBLP, based on your successful LRSG application, you do not need to submit another application form.
You must inform us if your circumstances have changed since submitting your original application, for instance if your business has permanently closed or you have reached state-aid limits.
| Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) application form |
Additional Restrictions Grant
The Government has also allocated some funding to Local Authorities to pay out under an Additional Restrictions Grant. You only need to apply once to this scheme, successful applications will receive the appropriate funding to cover all lockdown periods..
This grant is to help those businesses which – while not legally forced to close – are severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of Covid-19. The Government has stated that this scheme should be focused on the following business groups, however since this is a discretionary scheme it will not be wholly restricted to these groups and any SME business that can demonstrate that it has been severely affected will potentially be eligible.
- businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors
- businesses in the events sector
- businesses outside the business rates system, which are effectively forced to close – for example market traders
The Government has also advised 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 they are unable to trade online
- the consequent scale of coronavirus losses
| Full East Suffolk Additional Restrictions Grant guidance |
All businesses must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a grant:
- Businesses must have been trading on the day before national lockdown restrictions came into force
- Businesses must be able to demonstrate that they will experience a fall in income of greater than 30% of their usual expected income at this time of year due to Covid-19 restriction measures. The Council will ask the business to give a written statement of the impact on its financial position of the restrictions. The business should include a description of what goods or services it offers and therefore what the impact of Covid-19 has been.
Businesses eligible for the ARG scheme will be as defined in Groups A to E, but we urge all business owners to read the full grant guidance before applying for the grant:
| Business type | Grant for 28 days (November lockdown) | Grant for 52 days (26 Dec to mid Feb lockdown) | One-off grant payment (ARG Closed business lockdown payment) |
Grant for 44 days (16 Feb to 31 March 2021) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Businesses in shared spaces (businesses that do not currently pay their own business rates but occupy a unit or room in a larger business space) | £500 £1,334 £2,000 or £3,000 Level of grant will be determined by the annual cost of rent paid by the business for their share of the premises |
£929 £2,477 £3,714 or £5,571 |
£1,500 £4,000 £6,000 or £9,000 |
£786 £2,096 £3,143 or £4,714 |
| B | Market traders | £350 | £650 | £1,050 | £550 |
| C | Bed and breakfast businesses | £700 | £1300 | £2,100 | £1,100 |
| D | Businesses that have been severely impacted by Covid-19 restrictions occupying premises on the local rating list | £1,334 £2,000 or £3,000 |
£2,477 £3,714 or £5,571 |
£4,000 £6,000 or £9,000 |
£2,096 £3,143 or £4,714 |
| E | Other businesses that have been severely impacted by Covid-19 restrictions | £350 or £500 Other businesses which fall into this category to be determined by panel |
£650 £929 |
£1,050 or £1,500 |
£550 £786 |
| Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) application form |
Applications for the Additional Restrictions Grant will close on 31 March 2021 and no ARG payments will be made in respect of any lockdown periods after this date from this scheme.
The ARG scheme applies to the November lockdown period, the national restrictions in place from 26 December to mid-February and a single one-off payment for closed businesses – you only need to apply once, automatic pro-rata payments will be made to cover all eligible periods, please do not submit multiple applications.
Additional funding has been released from the ARG scheme in recognition of the specific difficulties and financial impact on the non-seasonal hospitality sector throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council will make additional one-off payments to businesses in the following categories:
- Cafes
- Restaurants
- Coffee Bars
- Ice Cream Parlours
- Public Houses
- Public Houses with Restaurants
- Public Houses with Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
- Wedding and Conference Centres
- Nightclubs
- Social Clubs
- Private Members’ Clubs
These Hospitality Payments will be set at the following values:
a) Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £15,000 or under on the date of the commencement of the widespread national restrictions will receive a payment of £4,000.
b) Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 on the date of the commencement of the widespread national restrictions will receive a payment of £6,000.
c) Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or above on the commencement date of the widespread national restrictions, will receive £9,000.
Subject to confirmation of the circumstances of the business, any businesses in this category that received an LRSG grant will receive a Hospitality Payment without the need to submit a new application. Businesses that could be eligible, but which have not received previous payments under the LRSG scheme can apply using the Council’s LRSG application process.