LOCAL AUTHORITY DISCRETIONARY GRANTS

The Government has now produced guidance for Local Authorities on what they should consider when awarding grants to businesses currently ineligible for the small business grants due to paying council tax rather than business rates eg B&Bs.  It will be for local authorities to assess what is required for their local circumstances, but they are being asked to consider the level of fixed costs faced by the business, the number of employees, whether businesses have had to close completely and are unable to trade online and the consequent scale of impact of COVID-19 losses.