Andrew Dismore

Applications for grants to support your business through lockdown are now open

On Thursday 5 November, the Government introduced a new lockdown with many local businesses asked to close until Wednesday 2 December.

There are now grants and financial support packages available to help local businesses. In this update, we have outlined these grants and how to apply. We know many of you have made great personal sacrifices over the course of the year and we want to thank you for your continued effort to protect our communities despite these challenging and uncertain times.

Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed)

Businesses required to close under the lockdown can apply for a grant of up to £3,000 for the period 5 November to 2 December. You can find a list of businesses required to close here.

The Local Restrictions Grant (Closed) will be paid as a one-off grant to cover the 28-day period of lockdown. The size of the grant is based on rateable values:

• Properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under would receive a grant of £1,334.
• Properties with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 would receive a grant of £2,000.
• Properties with a rateable value over £51,000 would receive a grant of £3,000.

If you have more than one qualifying business property, you will receive a grant for each property. Separate applications will be required for each business property.

Where possible, we are looking to pay eligible businesses proactively without an application process, using data already held by the Council, starting from 19 November. We will contact your business directly and ask to confirm that you meet eligibility criteria. However, if you meet eligibility criteria and your business does not receive a payment, you should fill in an application at camden.gov.uk/business-support-grants.

To qualify for this grant, you must meet the following eligibility criteria, set by Government:

• You must be based in Camden and pay business rates
• You must have been required to close by the Government*
• You must have been trading as usual until the day lockdown came into force (Thursday 5 November 2020) and not in the process of liquidation
• You must not be in breach of State Aid limits

*Restaurants that have started a takeaway service and businesses that have set up click and collect are still eligible, as their main business has had to close. Businesses that have chosen to close but are not required to, or new businesses opening after 5 November are not be eligible for a grant.

Local Restrictions Support Grant (Sector)

These payments are for businesses in sectors required to close since 23 March, namely; nightclubs, dance halls, sexual entertainment venues and hostess bars.

To qualify, businesses must have continued trading but their venue remained closed and not repurposed into another type of business allowed to stay open during that time (e.g nightclub to a bar). The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) supersedes this grant and business in impacted sectors will receive closure grants as set out above for the period of lockdown as well as a pro-rata backdated payment from the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Sector) for the period 1 November to 4 November.

We expect to award these payments to businesses automatically and without an application process. If these businesses are still required to be closed at the end of lockdown they will then receive the payments set out below every 14 days:

• Properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will receive a grant of £667 (per 14-day qualifying restriction period)
• Properties with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £1,000 (per 14-day qualifying restriction period)
• Properties with a rateable value over £51,000 will receive grant of £1,500  (per 14-day qualifying restriction period)

Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open)

This grant scheme is available when an area is in Tier 2 or 3 COVID-alert restrictions. You can find information explaining the Government’s updated COVID alert system and what it means for Camden businesses at gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know

The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) supersedes this grant during the lockdown. This means eligible businesses will only be awarded Local Restrictions Support Grants (Open) for the period 17 October to 4 November 2020, when Camden was under Tier 2 restrictions that banned households from mixing indoors.

After lockdown is lifted, this grant scheme will re-open for every 28 days of tiered restrictions and businesses will be entitled to one payment per 28-day cycle. These will be based on the following rateable values:

• Properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under will receive a grant of £934 (per 28-day qualifying restriction period)
• Properties with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £1,400 (per 28-day qualifying restriction period)
• Properties with a rateable value over £51,000 will receive a grant of £2,100 (per 28-day qualifying restriction period)

The Council’s Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) is now open for applications, find out more at camden.gov.uk/business-support-grants.

Camden’s scheme provides support to businesses in hospitality, hotel and leisure/culture sectors affected restrictions on household mixing, with the following exceptions:

• B&Bs must be established businesses, registered for Business Rates and operating throughout the year. As such, premises operating in private residences and paying Council Tax are not be eligible.
• Meeting rooms, kitchens and communal spaces within shared office buildings are not be eligible.
• In the event that they are allowed to reopen, sexual entertainment premises and hostess bars will not be eligible for a Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open).

There is likely to be significant demand for these grants, so we will prioritise applications based on need and hardship. In assessing applications, we will focus on the following factors and target funding towards businesses “scoring” highly in relation to both categories. This will not be on a first come first served basis, but based on an assessment of all eligible and complete applications submitted:

• Firstly applicants who can demonstrate “hardship” i.e. those applicants who, based on the information provided, can show the highest level of burden in ongoing fixed building-related costs and with the most significant fall in income
• Secondly those applicants who can demonstrate insofar as possible a) how the funding will support the survival of a  business that might otherwise go under and (b) that the business’s survival  will make ongoing positive contribution to Camden’s economy, such as supporting local employment, sustainability and health and wellbeing.

Payments will be made directly into bank accounts once approved and businesses will need to comply with post payment assurance checks and advise how they are using the payments to enable the Council to provide data returns to Government. This is a discretionary scheme and there is no appeal process. Again, State Aid limits apply and businesses no longer trading will not be eligible.

Additional Restrictions Grant 

In addition, we will be receiving funding for a local discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant for businesses. We are working out the details of this scheme and will share this with you as soon as we are able to.

More information

The Government have announced that they are extending the furlough scheme through to March 2021. This means businesses that previously furloughed employees will continue receiving support to pay wages up to £2,500 per month. Employers can also enrol any staff that were added to their payroll before Saturday 31 October. Find out more at gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

The Government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme has been extended to provide an additional grant for the three-month period covering November 2020 to January 2021.

The grant will cover 80% of average monthly trading profits, paid in a single instalment covering three months of profit up to £7,500. HMRC will provide details of how to claim via gov.uk in the coming weeks. Read more at gov.uk/government/publications/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension

In addition, we are here to help you and your business throughout this challenging period. We will continue to update camden.gov.uk/coronavirus. If you have further questions about business grants, you can contact us at businessgrants@camden.gov.uk