Welsh Lockdown Grants – applications now open
Applications for grants to support business affected by the Welsh firebreak lockdown is now open for some Welsh councils, with others to open shortly. The grants are provided under a national scheme but will be administered by the local authorities.
There are broadly two separate pools of grant funding available:
Lockdown Non Domestic Rate Grant
This grant is available to businesses liable for paying business rates.
Grant 1
A grant of £5,000 is being made available for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses that have been forced to close (as defined by regulations) and occupy properties with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £51,000.
Grant 2
A grant of £1,000 is being made available to all businesses eligible for small business rates relief (SBRR) in Wales with a rateable value of up to £12,000. Businesses eligible for small business rates relief that have been subject to local restrictions for 3 weeks or more and have been materially impacted (>50% reduction in turnover) up to the 23rd October will be eligible for a further grant of £1,000
And
Businesses eligible for small business rates relief that have been forced to close (as defined by the regulations) as a result of the national firebreak lockdown will also be eligible for a further top up grant of £2,000 from their local authority.
To qualify businesses will need to have been on the Non-Domestic Rating List for their local authority on 1 September 2020 and will have to complete a simple registration for to receive the grant.
Further details can be downloaded here
Lockdown Discretionary Grant
Grant 1
A discretionary grant of £1,500 is available to assist businesses that have:
• Been forced to close (as defined by the regulations) as a result of the national firebreak lockdown
• OR are able to demonstrate that the national firebreak lockdown will result in at least a 80% reduction in their turnover for that period
Grant 2
A discretionary grant of £2,000 is available to assist businesses that have:
• Been forced to close (as defined by the regulations) as a result of the national firebreak lockdown
• OR are able to demonstrate that the national firebreak lockdown will result in at least a 80% reduction in their turnover for that period
• AND have been subject to local restrictions for 3 weeks or more up to the 23rd October and experienced at least a 50% reduction in their turnover for that period.
Businesses with over 50 employees or where the business generates less than 50% of the owner’s total income will not be eligible.
The two schemes are mutually exclusive – businesses that receive grant(s) under one of the schemes cannot receive grants under the other. Applications will be dealt with on a first come first served basis and will be open until either 20 November 2020 or until the fund is fully committed. It is therefore strongly recommended that business which believe they may qualify apply as soon as possible.
Local Authority links
We understand applications can be made through the following Local Authority pages:
https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/9877/Lockdown-Business-Fund
https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/covid-19-support-businesses/lockdown-business-fund
https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/coronavirus/emergency-support-for-businesses.aspx
https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Business/Local-Lockdown-grant/Local-Lockdown-Grants.aspx
Please note not all local authorities have as yet updated or created the pages to allow businesses to apply so we would recommend checking back on the relevant local authority website regularly for updates to the pages.