Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance TO FOLLOW

The Cabinet Member Finance presented the report, thanking the Revenues and Benefits team for reacting swiftly to the latest tranche of government financial support. She explained that this particular funding had a discretionary element, which required the drafting of a Cheltenham-specific policy in order to be open, fair and transparent.

The government was providing the council with a total of £2,349,522 for a grant scheme for business rate payers forced to close during this period of national restrictions. Additional funding would be made available if the initial funding proved insufficient to support all eligible businesses, and any unspent funds must be returned to the government. She reported that the scheme was now live, and had already received over 100 applications, with the first payments due to go out on the 18^th November.

She added that further funding was due to be received for grants to sector businesses such as nightclubs, dancehalls and sexual entertainment venues that had been continuously closed since March. This funding was yet to be determined, but a small number of Cheltenham businesses were likely to qualify under the scheme.

£2,326,120 was being provided to the council for a locally designed scheme to support businesses impacted by national and local restrictions between now and March 2022. The government was indicating that no more funding would be made available for discretionary business grant support during this time. Therefore, it was necessary to find a balance between providing help to local businesses as soon as possible, and holding back funding for a later date, so £1m would be allocated for the national lockdown period in November and December.

She stressed that the amounts allocated would be monitored closely, and that applications would be considered in date order as they were received. If the total sum allocated was to near £1m with applications outstanding, these applications would be assessed in order of date received, and once the £1m had been allocated the remaining applications may need to be rejected. She added that new burdens funding would be provided in respect of the administration costs of these schemes.

She clarified that the amount of grant paid would be as follows:

• businesses occupying properties with a rateable value, or paying rent or mortgage per annum, of exactly £15,000 or under on 5th November 2020 would receive up to £1,334
• those paying £15,000 to £51,000 would receive up to £2,000
• those paying over £51,000 would receive up to £3,000

An online application form would be available on the council’s website shortly, and the scheme would go live early next week with payments going out at the end of the week. She noted that due to the limited funding, it would only be open for 14 days from the date the application form was made available on the website.

She added that a revised scheme would be prepared in respect of any future restriction periods, aimed at supporting the most affected business sectors.

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles asked whether the amount of funding would be adequate considering that things would not return to normal for quite some time. The Cabinet Member Finance responded that extra funding would be available from national schemes if needed, although the discretionary schemes were different as they did not allow topping up. This was key for businesses like B&Bs that paid council tax but not business rates. She stressed that this was why the council had avoided allocating all the funding immediately, in case of future uncertainty. She acknowledged the possibility of further future lockdowns, and agreed that it was important to think of the situation down the line.

The Cabinet Member Housing echoed the thanks to the Revenues and Benefits team for turning the report around so quickly, which compared favourably to other authorities around the country. He emphasised that funding should always be distributed at the local level, with authorities given control over how to allocate it, since they knew their area best.

The Cabinet Member Cyber and Safety supported getting the money out quickly. He acknowledged concerns about the amount of funding in the long term, but businesses needed the money now, and it could be too late in the future. The Leader of the Council agreed that it was impossible to predict exactly how much to use now and how much to save later, and suggested it was better to cover urgent needs now.

The Leader moved to a vote, where it was unanimously:

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    The Additional Restrictions - Discretionary Business Grant Scheme in Appendix 2 be approved;

2.    Authority be delegated to the Head of Revenues and Benefits to take decisions relating to applications made under the Additional Restrictions - Discretionary Business Grant Scheme, and authority be delegated to the Executive Director Finance and Assets, in consultation with the Cabinet Member Finance, to consider and determine any reviews requested in respect of such decisions;

3.    The Head of Revenues and Benefits be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member Finance to make changes to the Additional Restrictions - Discretionary Business Grant Scheme in line with any changes made by Government, or, as required to ensure the successful operation of the scheme;

4.    The Executive Director Finance and Assets be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member Finance to add any further category of businesses eligible for this scheme, if required;

5.    The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) Addendum scheme be noted, and authority be delegated to the Head of Revenues and Benefits to take decisions relating to applications.