Deadline: 11-Mar-22
The South Lakeland District Council is seeking applications for its Additional Restrictions Grant Program to support businesses severely impacted by the rise of the Omicron variant, whereby grants will be issued at the discretion of the local authority and will be based on local economic need.
Funding Information
Amount: They expect to be granting successful applicants in the region of £250 to £2,500 through the ARG4 grant scheme.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Council plans to align its fourth and final ARG scheme with the Government proposal outlined above for eligibility. The Council’s scheme will be predominantly focused on those businesses who demonstrate their eligibility as being severely negatively impacted by the ongoing pandemic and the spread of the Omicron variant, particularly regarding the Government move to Plan B measures on 10 December 2021.
- The business meets the National Criteria;
- The business fits that set out the priority businesses for South Lakeland;
- The business has clearly demonstrable fixed property costs within South Lakeland;
- The business is experiencing hardship as a result of the Coronavirus and the spread of the Omicron variant;
- The business is South Lakes based; AND,
- The business is not eligible for an Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant
Criteria
The Government has set out that the provision of the Additional Restrictions Grant must meet the following conditions:
- Businesses that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made are not eligible for funding under this scheme;
- All grant income received by a business entity under all COVID-19 Business Grant schemes is subject to taxation and should be declared to HMRC;
- Any grant income received is subject to Subsidy Allowance regulations, that is, businesses that have already received grant payments that equal the maximum permitted levels of subsidy will not be eligible to receive funding;
- Any grant income should not be used as a wage support mechanism, but rather be directed towards supporting business-related fixed property/overhead costs.
Exclusions
The following businesses are excluded from applying through this ARG scheme:
- Businesses eligible for the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant;
- Businesses that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking off notice has been made;
- Businesses that have received grant payments that equal the maximum permitted levels of subsidy;
- Business that do not meet the National Criteria;
- Businesses solely or wholly based outside South Lakeland and where the majority of trade takes place outside South Lakeland;
- Financial, legal and professional services;
- Non-essential retail businesses including regular market traders;
- Personal Care services i.e. hairdressers, beauty therapists, physiotherapists, who either operate mobile, at home, in a shared space or within their own premises;
- All self-catering holiday accommodation outside of the business rates system;
- Kennels and catteries;
- Nursery and childcare businesses;
- Properties which are mainly use for domestic purposes and renting a spare room or rooms through ‘Airbnb’ or similar platforms;
- Businesses who have received discretionary grant funding (either the Discretionary Grant Fund or Additional Restrictions Grant) from any other local authority and are therefore deemed to be wholly or mainly based within another local authority boundary.
For more information, visit https://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/business-and-trade/business-support-grants-coronavirus-covid-19/