Plymouth City Council has distributed nearly £75million in grants to support businesses through coronavirus restrictions since April 2020 - but many businesses still haven’t claimed the financial support they’re entitled to.
More than 15,000 Plymouth businesses have been supported by 10 different Government grant schemes, including the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG).
Council leader Tudor Evans said: “Plymouth City Council staff have worked incredibly hard in challenging circumstances to get money out to businesses quickly and we understand how desperately important these grants are.
“I’d like to thank businesses for their patience. We’re currently administering 10 different grant schemes and our finance team has made more than 15,800 payments which as you can imagine, has required a huge amount of admin to process.
“Each time a new grant is announced, there’s a delay in us receiving both the guidance and the funding from Government. We really do appreciate that this can be frustrating for businesses, but I want to reassure you that we’re turning these grants around as fast as we can.”
The LRSG supports rate-paying businesses that were forced to close during periods of national lockdown since November – known as the LRSG (Closed) - and throughout the subsequent tiered restrictions with the LRSG (Open) scheme.
The LRSG payments vary depending on rateable value, with separate grants to cover different time periods:
November 5 to December 4, 2020
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Tiered restrictions between December 5, 2020, to January 4, 2021
January 5 to February 15, 2021
February 16 to March 31, 2021.
Council staff have automated as many of the LRSG payments as possible, meaning businesses only have to complete one application form in order to claim all the funding they’re entitled to.
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However, about 1,200 businesses haven’t yet applied for funding through the LRSG. The deadline to receive the January grants is fast approaching with applications required by March 31.
Any business which pays rates to the council and has been legally required to close during the coronavirus lockdown is urged to check the eligibility criteria and apply if they haven’t done so already.
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Many businesses that were ineligible for the LRSG have instead been supported through the ARG scheme, discretionary funding that was given to local authorities to support businesses in the form of grants or economic development activity.
Further grants will also be available to help businesses reopen post-lockdown. The new Restart Grants will be administered by the council and more information about this will be shared soon.
More information about business grants and how to apply is available . For any inquiries about business grants, there’s an online form available, with a team of council staff responding as quickly as possible and can be accessed .