Small Business Grants Fund

(asked on 22nd June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will issue guidance to local authorities to allow (a) businesses whose business rates are included in their rent and (b) regular market traders to apply for the funds through the Discretionary Grant Scheme.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 30th June 2020

On?1 May,?the Government announced that up to £617 million has been made available to local authorities?in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. The?Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs that are not liable for business rates or rates reliefs.

We are asking local authorities to prioritise the following types of businesses for grants from within this funding pot:

  • Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces. Examples could include units in industrial parks, science parks, and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment.
  • Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment.
  • Bed & breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates.
  • Charity properties in receipt of Charitable Rate Relief, which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.

Local authorities are responsible for defining the precise eligibility for this Fund?and?may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need,?subject to those businesses meeting the specific eligibility criteria.

Guidance to support local authorities to administer the Fund was published on 13 May at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.

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