These grants will be administered by local authorities. At the time of writing, Ribble Valley Borough Council and other local authority websites had not been updated with this information but keep checking their Coronavirus advice and information for businesses for more information.
Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG) (Closed) – Business required to close under level three restrictions and the current National Lockdown
Businesses required to close for a minimum period of two weeks in England due to local or national restrictions will be eligible for the following:
For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants to be £1,334 per 28 days, or £667 per two weeks;
For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k grants to be £2,000 per 28 days, or £1,000 per two weeks;
For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants to be £3,000 per 28 days, or £1,500 per two weeks.
This funding is only available for businesses required to close due to restrictions which had their first full day of restrictions on or after 09 September 2020.
From yesterday the payment cycle became a 28 one and will be in place as long as national restrictions apply.
LSRG (Open) - Businesses which were open before lockdown but severely impacted by Local Covid Alert Level ‘High’ and ‘Very High’ restrictions.
This strand of LRSG support, announced 22 October 2020, is for businesses not legally required to close but which were severely impacted by the restrictions under Levels 2 and 3. This applies to England only and is retrospective, applying from 1 August 2020, or when the restrictions began, if later.
These amounts have been recommended to authorities:
For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants up to £934 per 28 days;
For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k grants up to £1,400 per 28 days;
For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants up to £2,100 per 28 days.
As we have now entered National Lockdown, future claims will be under the Closed Scheme.
LRSG (Sector) - Businesses which have not been allowed to open since the 23 March 2020 lockdown
This applies from 01 November, 2020. It is not retrospective. However, since we entered National Lockdown from yesterday, claims from that date will be under the LRSG (Closed) Scheme.
The amounts due are as for the Local Restriction Support Grants above.
Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG)
This support was announced on 31 October 2020 and applies just to England from 14 October 2020. It is not retrospective.
It is designed to provide additional support to grant funding under the Local Restrictions Support Grant.
Local Authorities will be able to determine how much funding to provide to businesses from the ARG funding provided, and exactly which businesses to target.
Local Authorities are being 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 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.
SOURCE INFORMATION: