Overview: Covid-19 reliefs and grants currently available

It’s hard to keep up with the plethora of grants and relief available at the moment that relate to coronavirus business disruption – particularly with England, Scotland and Wales all  announcing their own versions at different times.

Here is a general recap that may help.

England:

Here potential grants are available to businesses following the end of the lockdown on December 3. Depending on which tier you are in, or in the event of another national lockdown, there are numerous permutations that depend on your individual qualifying details, dates and exemptions. You should check with your local authority for further details on the application process and deadlines.

There are currently grants available for National Lockdown, Local Lockdown, Discretionary Schemes (devised and administered by local authorities) and sector specific schemes.

There is a Government support finder which can help point you in the right direction, Find coronavirus financial support for your business – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) or ask a rating specialist for help (contact us).

More general information is available here: Coronavirus grant funding: local authority payments to small and medium businesses – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Scotland:

General relief information can be found here, and you can also sign up to a newsletter for any  announcements; Coronavirus Support for Businesses in Scotland – Find Business Support

The most recent announcement from the Scottish Government relates to the qualifying day nurseries will continue to receive 100% relief. The Nursery Rate Relief will run until at least June 2023.

Wales:

At the end of November, Wales announced a £340m package of support aimed at hospitality, tourism, leisure and any related-businesses. The fund will be split between a £160m ERF Restrictions Business Fund and a £180m for ERF Sector Specific Support.

The new grants replace the Lockdown Non-Domestic Grant and Lockdown Discretionary Grant schemes.

ERF Restrictions Business Funds are for:

• Hospitality Businesses in receipt of Small Business rate relief (SBRR) and have a rateable value (RV) of £12,000 or less will be eligible for £3,000.
• Hospitality businesses with an RV of £12,001-£51,000 are eligible for a £5,000 payment if they are forced to close.
• Hospitality businesses with an RV of £51,001-£150,000 are eligible for a £5,000 payment if impacted by the restrictions.
• Tourism and leisure businesses will be eligible for the above if they have 40+% reduction in turnover during the restricted period.

ERF Restrictions Discretionary Grant

Local authorities will continue administering the Lockdown Discretionary Grant to businesses that are materially affected and targeting businesses that aren’t on the non-domestic rates (NDR) system – so unable to apply for the NDR-linked grants.

• The ERF Sector Specific Support (operating cost) package targeting Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure businesses or their supply chain which are materially impacted with a greater than 60% impact of turnover as a result of the restrictions.
• Eligible businesses will have to be employing staff via PAYE, and either VAT-registered or (exempt from VAT) with turnover above £85,000, or limited companies with turnover above £50,000.
• Grants range from £2,000 for a single employee business, to £1,500 per employee for SMEs, and £500 per employee for large businesses. Restrictions apply.

Applications will be dealt with on a first come first served basis and will be available via the Business Wales website shortly at COVID-19 Support for Business | Business Wales (gov.wales). It also has a business support finder option; Covid-19 Business Support Finder | Business Wales (gov.wales).