Policy revised 18 January 2021 of the discretionary grant scheme in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and Cabinet Member for Finance.
Overview
Following the announcement of the Local Covid Alert Level Tier system and National Lockdown which started on the 5 November 2020 a range of financial support was announced Nationally.
This policy covers the “Additional Restrictions Grant” and the “Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open)”. The (Open) designation indicates whether or not that business is required to close or can remain open. Both of these grants are essentially for businesses that have been affected by, but not closed due to local or national restrictions.
These schemes are discretionary, albeit the Government has been clear with which types of businesses and sectors the support should be targeted towards.
Officers have worked across the region with neighbouring Local Authorities to agree consistency in how these discretionary schemes are administered across Devon.
Additional Restrictions Grant - ARG
We initially received £20 per head of population. The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has confirmed that this funding will not be topped up in the 2020/21 or 2021/22 and is a “one-off lump sum payment” which can be used across Financial across both financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22.
This 17 month timeframe therefore provide a degree of difficulty in how & when to allocate this funding to support businesses in a meaningful way given the unpredictability of when and where restrictions will be imposed and how long these will last.
The Additional Restrictions Grant is for discretionary grants and wider business support measures. Taking all of this on board, it is currently expected that; approximately up to £1m of this funding is will be made available immediately through grant funding, with approximately up to £1m for use early 2021 and the remainder to be earmarked for future support in 2021/22. These allocations are subject to local demand and how national and local restrictions change.
Local Restrictions Grant (Open) – LRSG (open)
During Tier 2 or Tier 3 local restrictions, Torbay will receive a rolling funding allocation based on Valuation Office Agency (VOA) data. The guidance advises that Local Authorities will receive funding based on the number of hospitality, hotel, bed & breakfast and leisure businesses there are in their area. Data on business types will be provided by the Valuation Office Agency.
This funding is to be delivered to businesses through a grant which is awarded per 28-day period the restrictions apply.
Torbay Funding Allocation
In January 2021 Torbay received an additional “top-up” to the ARG brining the revised total to £3,930,440.
Eligibility
For the purposes of eligibility the ARG and LRSG (Open) are intended to operate within the same parameters.
Businesses must be able to evidence that the restrictions have severely impacted their business. Businesses which do not depend on providing direct in-person services from premises and can operate their services effectively remotely (e.g. accountants, solicitors) are excluded from the mandatory schemes.
The Governments guidance encourages the focus of these funds to be on supporting the following business types;
- Supply Chain businesses for Retail, Hospitality & Leisure. This includes the supply of both goods and services.
- Businesses operating outside the rates system that have been closed by, or affected by restrictions
Local Authorities across Devon have also agreed to include;
- Home workers, sole-traders and self-employed individuals who have fixed ongoing property related costs that are the responsibility of the business. These applicants must have a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) Number.
- Any other businesses type that is affected by Covid-19 and is not eligible for the LRSG (Closed) scheme.
The Government has outlined that the “Discretionary grants, including the ARG, can be used to support the self-employed. However, the ARG must not be used as a wage supplement, rather as a support to the business that the self-employed person runs” as a result, non-ratepaying businesses must be able to evidence either;
- fixed ongoing costs relating to non-domestic property or equipment. E.g. Commercial rent or mooring fees. Or,
- Ongoing business related overheads of a fixed nature. i.e. contracts for web-hosting fees, vehicle lease etc.
Companies that are in administration, are insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made are not eligible for funding under this scheme.
Torbay Approach - Prioritisation
Based on local intelligence the number of businesses that could apply, far outstrips the funding allocated so far.
The payment of grants will be in tranches;
Tranche 1 will include the Government priority groups.
- Supply Chain businesses for Retail, Hospitality & Leisure. This includes the supply of both goods and services.
- Businesses operating outside the rates system that have been closed by, or affected by restrictions
Grants to this group will be made as a priority, following the required pre-payment fraud screening.
Tranche 2 will include the discretionary groups;
- Home workers, sole-traders and self-employed individuals who have fixed ongoing property related costs that are the responsibility of the business. These applicants must have a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) Number and fixed ongoing costs relating to non-domestic property or equipment. E.g. Commercial rent or mooring fees
- Any other businesses type that is affected by COVID-19 and is not eligible for the LRSG (Closed) scheme.
Grants to this second group will be made in December i.e. once the levels of demand from the priority groups is clear. If there is remaining funding the scheme will be expanded accordingly in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and Cabinet Member for Finance.
Levels of Award
In accordance with the guidance, and in consultation with Devon-wide Local Authorities Torbay has agreed the following levels of grants which provide equity for businesses across the region. These grant levels are based on the Government Guidance and provide consistency as local businesses transition between different levels of restrictions.
The below table shows which grant schemes various businesses are eligible for during National or Local Restrictions. During Tier 2/3 restrictions individual grants can be funded from either the ARG or LRSG (Open) fund, not both
| Schemes | ARG | LRSG (Closed) |
|---|---|---|
| Affected or Closed Non-Ratepayer | 934 | - |
| Home workers, sole-traders and self-employed individuals | 934 | - |
| Affected Ratepayer – Rateable Value exactly £15,000 and under | 934 | - |
| Affected Ratepayer - Rateable Value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 | 1,400 | - |
| Affected Ratepayer - Rateable Value of exactly £51,000 or above | 2,100 | - |
| Closed Ratepayer - Rateable Value exactly £15,000 and under | - | 1,334 |
| Closed Ratepayer - Rateable Value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 | - | 2,000 |
| Closed Ratepayer - Rateable Value of exactly £51,000 or above | - | 3,000 |
| Schemes | ARG | LRSG (Closed) | LRSG (Open) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affected or Closed Non-Ratepayer | 934 | - | 934 |
| Home workers, sole-traders and self-employed individuals | 934 | - | 934 |
| Affected Ratepayer - Rateable Value exactly £15,000 and under | - | - | 934 |
| Affected Ratepayer - Rateable Value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 | - | - | 1,400 |
| Affected Ratepayer - Rateable Value of exactly £51,000 or above | - | - | 2,100 |
| Closed Ratepayer - Rateable Value exactly £15,000 and under | - | 1,334 | - |
| Closed Ratepayer - Rateable Value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 | - | 2,000 | - |
| Closed Ratepayer - Rateable Value of exactly £51,000 or above | - | 3,000 | - |
Note the LRSG (Closed) is a mandatory scheme with grant levels prescribed by Government and the values on the table above are shown to demonstrate the full range of grant support available to businesses. However, this policy is specifically for the ARG and LRSG (Open) scheme which are discretionary.
If the limited funding for the discretionary scheme(s) is oversubscribed, awards to businesses will be prioritised based on their relative levels of ongoing fixed property-related costs, number of employees and relevance to the Local Economy.
Further discretion
Any discretionary award outside of this policy must be approved in writing by the Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet member for finance.
Our decision is final.