Additional Restrictions Grant – Open Impacted
This scheme will be administered in tranches with various application windows opening over the coming weeks.
Applications are now invited from businesses that have been able to open during the National Lockdown from 5th November to 2nd December 2020 but have suffered a significant loss in income due to Covid-19.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
Please read following information and policy before you make an application for funding under the Council’s Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme.
Please do not apply unless, after reading the criteria, you genuinely think your business is entitled as this will slow down the processing of applications and delay the opening of future schemes under the Additional Restrictions Grant.
Introduction
On Saturday 31 October 2020, the Government announced new lockdown measures and has provided funding to support businesses that are required to close due to the restrictions being put in place to manage coronavirus and save lives.
Part of the financial measures announced are grants for businesses (within the business rates system) that have been forced to close under the latest lockdown measures. Businesses required to close in England due to local or national restrictions will be eligible for the following Local Restriction Support Grant (Closed) (LRSGC).
- For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, £1,334 grant funding is to be paid per 28-day qualifying restriction period
- For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k, £2,000 grant funding is to be paid per 28-day qualifying restriction period
- For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over, £3,000 grant funding is to be paid per 28-day qualifying restriction period
The Government has recognised that some businesses that are required to close may not have commercial premises (and therefore won’t have a rateable value), and others won’t have been forced to close, but they will be significantly financially impacted and do not qualify under the above mentioned scheme.
As such, Boston Borough Council has been allocated £1,403,460 Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funding to be used over the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22.
This funding will be allocated to meet the following expectations set out by Central Government:-
- Local Authorities can determine how much funding to provide to businesses from the ARG funding provided, and exactly which businesses to target.
- Local Authorities are encouraged to develop discretionary grant schemes to help those businesses which – while not legally forced to close – are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of Covid-19. This could include – for example – businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, or businesses in the events sector.
- Local Authorities may also choose to help businesses outside the business rates system, which are effectively forced to close – for example market traders**.
- Local Authorities could use ARG funding to provide additional support to larger local businesses which are important to the local economy, on top of the funding provided to those businesses via the LRSG (Closed) scheme, with due reference to State Aid.
- In taking decisions on the appropriate level of grant, 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 and the consequent scale of coronavirus losses.
- The grant amounts given to individual businesses will be subject to state aid limits.
- Local Authorities may also use this funding for wider business support activities.
This grant scheme is fully funded by Central Government and the funds will be administered by Boston Borough Council in accordance with the guidance issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Policy
Boston Borough Councils Additional Restrictions Grant Policy sets out how the council will distribute Additional Restrictions Grant Funding in accordance with Government guidelines. Click Here to View Policy
Application Windows to Apply for Funding
Grants will be initially administered for the 28 day period of the National Lockdown from Thursday 5th November 2020 to 2nd December 2020.
Applications for the Additional Restrictions Grant must be submitted using the online form which is published on https://www.mybostonuk.com/business-support-grants/
Applications will be invited in a staged approach for each element of the ARG funding scheme.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible, with an aim to make payments within 10 working days of a successful application. However, there may be a delay due to the volume of applications received.
Eligibility Criteria
The ARG (Impacted Business Grant) is available for any business that does not qualify for a LRSGC grant that can prove they have been significantly affected as a consequence of the National Lockdown. This will include businesses for example that have not been required to close that provide products and services to the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors
Open businesses that are applying for ARG (Discretionary) funding will be required to make a statement that confirms their eligibility. The council places responsibility on the applicant to agree that their statement is correct to the best of their knowledge. In addition, businesses that are not required to close will need to provide evidence that they were negatively affected by the lockdown. This will be in the form of banks statements and other supporting evidence to show year on year losses e.g. November 2020 lockdown verses November 2019, fixed costs, rental payments.
In order to be eligible for funding from the Additional Restrictions Grant Fund, businesses must not be eligible for funding from any other central government scheme for the November lockdown period
Such grant schemes include but are not limited to:
- The Fisheries Response Fund
- Local Restrictions Support Grant
- Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme (DSSS).
- The Zoos Support Fund
- The Dairy Hardship Fund
Sectors which will be excluded from applying are:
- Financial services
- Medical services
- Solicitors
- Primary agriculture
Businesses who have applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are eligible to apply for this grant funding.
Your business must have been trading on 4th November 2020.
Companies that are in administration, are insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made are not eligible for funding under this scheme.
Businesses must not have already received grant payments that equal the maximum levels of State aid permitted under the de minimis and the Covid-19 Temporary State Aid Framework.
How much will be paid?
A flat rate grant of £1,334 will be paid for the period 5th November 2020 to 2nd December 2020.
Evidence Required
Businesses are required to submit evidence in order to verify their eligibility and to support their case for funding. The requirement for evidence is set out below and must be provided as part of your application. Failure to do so will cause delay and may affect your eligibility for a grant payment.
- Evidence that your business was trading at a location within the Borough of Boston on 4th November 2020 and verification of business details. We will require your Companies House/Charity Number and financial evidence as set out below;
- Evidence of fixed property costs such as rent, rates or mortgage payments;
- Evidence of your latest business bank statement showing trading transactions prior to 5th November 2020.
- Businesses that are not required to close will need to provide evidence that they were negatively affected by the lockdown. This will be in the form of banks statements and other supporting evidence to show year on year losses e.g. November 2020 lockdown verses November 2019, fixed costs, rental payments.
- Other evidence as relevant to the business and in order to demonstrate the case for funding
Tax and state aid
Grant income received by a business is taxable therefore funding paid under the Additional Restrictions Grants Fund will be subject to tax.
Fraud
Pre and Post Assurances checks will be made to ensure that grant monies are paid correctly.
Boston Borough Council will not accept deliberate manipulation and fraud – and any business caught falsifying their records to gain grant money will face prosecution and any funding issued will be subject to claw back, as may any grants paid in error.
By signing the final declaration of the application form you are confirming that all information provided is a true and accurate record.
Appeals
There is no right to appeal and the decision of the Council is final.
How to apply
Applications for the Additional Restrictions Grant must be submitted using the online form at the bottom of this webpage.
If an application is incomplete and requires further information, please provide this promptly once we have contacted you.
Documents used to support evidence of entitlement to a business grant must be uploaded in jpeg, jpg, png, docx or pdf format and be no larger than 5MB.
Privacy Information
The information that you provide will be removed from the council’s webserver within 48 hours Mon-Friday and 72 hours Sat-Sun. Copies of the information will then be stored in line with the council’s retention and disposal policy
The Council is required to account for how it spends public funds. As such the Council will likely be required to publish or disclose upon request details of any amounts paid to you in respect of this application in the future. This will be necessary to meet the Council’s transparency obligations and the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Boston Borough Council will retain some of your business contact details to document its role in processing Business Support Grant Applications. We will retain the business contact details (which may contain personal contact details) for 2 years. We will retain any details relating to all applications for up to 10 years. This information may also be shared with Central Government’s BEIS who may wish to contact you as they are the agency that has provided the funding support to local authorities.
Boston Borough may also use your business contact details to make contact in respect of its role in the economic wellbeing of the local area. Boston Borough Council has a statutory duty in delivery of support via the Business Support Grant Process.
To find out more about why we need your information, what we will do with it and how to contact us if you have any concerns or questions please read our Privacy Notice at https://www.mybostonuk.com/privacy-notice/
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
