Additional Funding for Scottish Businesses Affected by Temporary Restrictions

Post Author:

Anne Melville

Date Posted:

October 22, 2020

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Company News , Coronavirus

The Scottish Government has announced that the current temporary restrictions will now stay in place until 2 November 2020.  As a result, the restrictions funding available for business grants over this period will be increased accordingly.

The Business Closure Fund will now provide: –

  • One off grants of up to £4,310 depending on rateable value, to bars, restaurants and other businesses required to close by the regulations. The previous maximum amount was £3,000.

Up to £2,875 will be payable to businesses with a rateable value of up to £51,000 and for those with a rateable value of £51,001 or above the grant will be £4,310.

An upper limit of £21,000 will now apply in total to any eligible businesses operating multiple premises

These grants will be distributed by local authorities.

To be eligible to apply to the Business Closure Fund the business must be a hospitality or other business required by law to close (except for takeaway) under the current “brake restrictions”

The Business Hardship Fund will now provide discretionary grants to businesses that remain open but are significantly impacted by the restrictions, including those in the direct supply chains of organisations that had to close with effect from 9 October 2020. If a successful application is made the Fund will pay: –

  • A grant of up to £1,440 to businesses with a rateable value of up to £51,000 and for those with a rateable value of £51,001 or above a grant of £2,155.

An upper limit of £14,000 will now apply in total to any eligible businesses operating multiple premises

These grants will be also be distributed by local authorities.

To be eligible to apply to the Business Hardship Fund the business must be

  • a hospitality business or gym, required to close or operate in a restricted way
  • a producer/wholesale business based in Scotland supplying primarily short-life goods or produce to hospitality businesses affected by the regulations which can evidence a minimum 25% reduction in turnover during the brake period

In addition to be eligible to apply to either the Business Closure Fund or the Business Hardship Fund the business must: –

  • Have been open and trading before 9 October 2020
  • Have a business bank account. This is the account the grant will be paid into if the application is successful
  • Have business premises registered for Non-Domestic rates

Note businesses that pay rates via their landlords, rather than directly to a Council, are eligible to apply but will need to provide evidence of this by submitting a copy of the lease agreement.

  • Not provide takeaway food as its core and established basis of main operation
  • Not have breached wider COVID regulations/requirements prior to local restrictions
  • Not have connections to tax havens

In addition to the grants from the Business Closure Fund and Business Hardship Fund detailed above, there will also be grants of £1,650 to assist those businesses that are required to close, to help meet the 20% employer’s contribution that they are required to pay under the current UK Government furlough scheme.

Applications can be made by Limited Companies, Sole Traders, Trusts and Partnerships provided they meet the eligibility conditions.

How to apply 

Applications opened via the local authority websites on 20 October 2020 and close at 5pm on 3 November 2020. 

The links to the various local authority websites are as follows: –

When will the grants be paid?

Payments will be made within 3 working days of a notification of a successful application being made.

Note that if you have already applied for the funding and your application is successful, the grant will automatically be increased from the previous level.

These one-off grants are for the period until 2 November only and will be replaced by a new system of business support to complement the “levels” approach due to be debated in the Scottish Parliament next week.

https://www.gov.scot/news/more-support-for-businesses/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-restrictions-fund/

https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/service/funding/coronavirus-restrictions-fund

The information in this blog provides only an overview of guidance and legislation in force at the date of publication and no action should be taken without consulting the detailed guidance and legislation or seeking professional advice.  Therefore no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material contained in this blog can be accepted by the firm.

Photo by Aleks Marinkovic on Unsplash

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