Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether events hire companies that offer dry-hire services to the public are eligible for financial support through the (a) Small Business Rate Relief, (b) Small Business Grant Fund and (c) Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.

Events hire companies could be eligible for the Small Business Grant Fund if they are in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rates Relief. Businesses are eligible for a £10,000 per property, for each of their properties in receipt of these reliefs.

Events hire companies could also be eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Fund. Businesses are eligible for a £25,000 grant per property, for each property which is used for retail, hospitality or leisure purposes with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000. Businesses are also eligible for a £10,000 grant per property, for each property used for these purposes with a rateable value of £15,000 or less which is not in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rates Relief.

Events hire companies which are not eligible for grants from these two funds because of how they interact with the business rates system may be eligible for a discretionary grant from their Local Authority. Government has provided up to an additional £617m for Local Authorities in England to enable them to make grants payments to businesses in these circumstances.

Local Authorities are responsible for defining precise eligibility for these discretionary grant funds. However, it is our intention that the following businesses should be considered as a priority for these funds:

• Businesses in shared offices;
• Regular market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment;
• B&Bs which pay Council Tax instead of business rates; and
• Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.

Recipient businesses will also have to meet the following criteria:

• They must be facing high fixed property-related costs;
• They must be able to demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in income due to the Covid-19 crisis;
• They must have fewer than 50 employees;
• They must have been trading on or before 11th March.

Businesses will need to apply to their Local Authority in order to receive grants. Each Local Authority will need to create their own process, which may take some time. We encourage businesses to look out for their Local Authority’s version of this scheme, and to contact their Local Authority for more information in due course.