Business: Coronavirus

(asked on 23rd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether businesses that do not pay business rates are eligible to apply for grants through the Covid-19 Business Grants Fund.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 21st April 2020

Only businesses which as of 11 March 2020 had their own rating assessment / rates valuation are eligible for the Business Grants Funds. The Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund have been designed to support the smallest businesses, and smaller businesses in some of the sectors which have been hit hardest by the measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Both schemes have been tied to the business rates system because these businesses are likely to face particularly high fixed costs, such as fixed rents and other building-related costs. The grants schemes are already making a real difference to many thousands of businesses, which have received a total of over £1 billion since the schemes were launched.

Small businesses in shared offices / premises, where the overall building’s rates valuation is too big to qualify for a grant, and where the users of the shared space don’t have their own rating assessment, are not eligible for the grants’ scheme. However, small businesses which are not eligible for these schemes should be able to benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including:

  • An option to defer VAT payments by up to twelve months;
  • The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, now extended to cover all businesses including those which would be able to access commercial credit;
  • The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, to support businesses with their wage bills;
  • The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, to provide support to the self-employed.

The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.

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