Those small and micro businesses which are not eligible for Small Business Grant Fund or the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Grant Fund may be eligible for the Discretionary Grants Scheme if they conform to the eligibility conditions of this scheme.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the grant a business must be:
- Based in England
- It has relatively high ongoing fixed property-related costs
- It occupies property (or part of a property) with a rateable value or annual mortgage/rent payments below £51,000
- It was trading on 11 March 2020
- The business has suffered a significant fall in income due to coronavirus.
For the purpose of this grant, the local councils have been asked to prioritise businesses such as:
- small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces, such as units in industrial parks or incubators
- regular market traders
- bed and breakfasts paying council tax instead of business rates
- charity properties getting charitable business rates relief, which are not eligible for small business rates relief or rural rate relief
Following businesses cannot apply for the grant under this scheme:
- The business that is in administration, insolvent, or has received a striking-off notice.
- If a business is already claiming under another government grant scheme like Small Business Grant Fund, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant, Fisheries Response Fund, Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme, Zoos Support Fund, Dairy Hardship Fund.
Other Features
- The businesses that have applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme can apply for grants under this scheme.
- State aid: The grant under this scheme counts towards state aid.
- Grants of £10,000 or less count towards the total de minimis state aid 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.)
- Grants of £25,000 count as state aid under the COVID-19 Temporary Framework. The limit for the framework is €800,000.
- Declaration: While claiming for the scheme businesses will have to complete a declaration confirming that:
- It will not exceed the relevant state aid threshold
- It is not an ‘undertaking in difficulty’ on 31 December 2019. This applies only to the COVID-19 Temporary Framework
Amount of Grant
The amount of grant under the Discretionary Grant Fund is of £25,000, £10,000, or any amount under £10,000.
How to apply for the grant?
All the information for applying for the grant is available on each local council’s website. Click here to find your local council.
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information are
solely for the purpose of awareness and are informative in nature. The content is designed
with intent to ease the understanding while preserving the essence and importance of the
compliance rules and shall not be considered as an ultimate replication of the rules. Debitam does not own any responsibility whatsoever for any unpleasant event that may
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