The Business Secretary Alok Sharma and Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, Simon Clarke have announced that £617 million would be made available to local authorities in England.
The government today has announced a discretionary fund of £617 million has been set up to accommodate certain small businesses previously outside the scope of the business grant funds scheme.
This new funding equates to an additional 5% uplift to the £12.33 billion funding previously announced for the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF).
To apply for the loan, businesses must be small, under 50 employees, and must be able to demonstrate that they have seen a significant drop in income due to Coronavirus restriction measures.
This additional fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs. The government has asked local authorities to prioritise businesses in shared spaces, regular market traders, small charity properties that would meet the criteria for Small Business Rates Relief, and bed and breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates.
There will be three levels of grant payments, with the maximum grant being £25,000, along with grants of £10,000 with local authorities having the discretion to make payments of any amount under £10,000.
For each region that allocation of funding will be at the discretion of local authorities. The government has announced that it will confirm the exact amount for each local authority next week.
You can read the full government announcement here.