COVID-19: business grant funding

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Local restrictions support grants (LRSG)

The latest business grant funding, to cover the national restriction measures put in place by Government, are 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 have been told to close.

To qualify for this grant, your business premises must be in the East Suffolk area and have been:

trading as usual prior to the date the restrictions came into force on 5 November 2020
liable for paying business rates at 5 November 2020
required to close due to Government lockdown restrictions

Businesses that have been mandated to close by Government include:

non-essential retail
leisure
personal care
sports facilities, and
hospitality businesses

The funding is only available for businesses that were required to close because of the formal publication of lockdown regulations under Public Health legislation, the funding is not available to businesses who have elected to close for other reasons.

The value of the grant varies depending on the business premises’ rateable value:

Rateable value of property	Grant for 28 days
£15,000 or under	£1,334
£15,001 to £50,999	£2,000
£51,000 or over	£3,000

Businesses that have set up a click and collect service and restaurants providing a takeaway service will still be able to claim grants if their substantive business has had to close.

Local Restrictions Support Grant application form

Businesses required to remain closed since March 2020

Some businesses, such as nightclubs and adult entertainment venues, have been required by Government to remain closed since March 2020. In addition to receiving support under the LRSG, these businesses will also receive a small amount of funding for the period 1 to 4 November 2020.

This is because on 1 November 2020, the Government introduced a separate grant funding scheme for this sector.

Ratepayers for these businesses should apply for the LRSG but should select the option on the form that confirms they have been required to remain fully closed since March 2020.

Businesses that reopened in a different form (for example Nightclubs that re-opened as late-night bars) are not eligible for this additional funding.

Additional Restrictions Grant

The Government has also allocated some funding to Local Authorities to pay out under an Additional Restrictions Grant.

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 first full day of national restrictions (4th November 2020 for the first period).
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 signed 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 amount
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, £1,344, £2,000, or £3,000
B	Market traders	£350
C	Bed and breakfast businesses	£700
D	Businesses that have been severely impacted by Covid-19 restrictions occupying premises on the local rating list	£1,344, £2,000, or £3,000
E	Other businesses that have been severely impacted by Covid-19 restrictions	Home based businesses £500 Mobile businesses £350 Other businesses which fall into this category to be determined by panel

Additional Restrictions Grant application form

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