Business rates

IMPORTANT NOTICE PLEASE READ

Business Grants

Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant

On 21 December 2021, Government announced the introduction of grant support for hospitality and leisure businesses in England who have been impacted by coronavirus restrictions and the rise of the Omicron variant.

One off grants up to £6,000 will be paid to hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses in England occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list only 

• Hospitality definition: a business whose main function is to provide a venue for the consumption and sale of food and drink

• Leisure definition: a business that provides opportunities, experiences and facilities, in particular for culture, recreation, entertainment, celebratory events, days and nights out, betting and gaming

• Accommodation definition: a business whose main lodging provision is used for holiday, travel and other purposes.

The scheme is now live. You do not need to do anything as we have identified those businesses that we feel will meet the eligibility criteria and are emailing businesses from 25 January onwards, inviting them to apply for a grant via the on-line portal.

COVID-19 business grant funding schemes: guidance for local authorities - GOV.UK

The scheme will close for applications on 18th March 2022 and all final payments must be made and dispersed to recipients by 31 March 2022.

Please note: We are required to undertake robust pre-payment verification checks for this grant, and are unable to make any payments until they are complete. Please allow 14 days after submitting your application and all of the supporting evidence, for a payment to be processed. Please do not contact us during this time. You will be notified once we are able to make a payment.

Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG6)

The Council has created a new Additional Restrictions Grant policy based on Government guidance, which will provide additional support to businesses who have been severely impacted by Covid restrictions and uncertainty caused by the Omicron variant, including those outside of the business rates system.

The scheme is open for applications from Friday 21 January 2022 and closes on Friday 4 February 2022 at 4 pm.

Please note this discretionary grant scheme is separate from the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant. We will be contacting those eligible businesses separately by email.  

All businesses will have to complete the secure ARG6 online application form by clicking on the link below.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY FOR ARG 6 IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE OMICRON HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE GRANT

ARG 6 Application Link

Eligibility

To be eligible, a business must fall into one of the following sectors:

(a) Hospitality, Accommodation and Leisure for businesses outside of the business rates system only;

(b) Personal care;

(c) Travel and tourism including group travel, travel agents and tour operators, coach operators;

(d) Wedding industries;

(e) Nightclubs;

(f) Theatres;

(g) Events Industries;

(h) Wholesalers;

(i) English Language Schools;

(j) Breweries;

(k) Freelance and Mobile businesses (including caterers, events, hair, beauty and wedding related businesses);

(l) Gyms;

(m) other businesses that may not have received other grants funding;

Please note: All applications will be validated and a determination made as to whether the business is eligible for a grant and how much. We are required to undertake robust pre-payment verification checks for this grant, and are unable to make any payments until they are complete. No payments will be made until the application deadline of Friday 4 February 2022 has passed and all applications have been assessed.

Please do not contact us during this time. You will be notified once we are able to make a payment.

Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) Scheme 6 Policy

Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG5)

Updated 25 January 2022

The application window has now closed. Payments have been authorised today and will be in customers bank accounts by the end of this week.