Support grants to be available to Tameside businesses

TAMESIDE businesses legally required to close as part of local or national coronavirus restrictions can apply for grant funding.

Tameside Council has launched the government’s Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed), Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) Addendum and Local Restrictions Support Grant (Sector) schemes. Eligible businesses can submit their applications to the scheme from today, 11 November.The value of grants a business will receive relates to the rateable value of the property, the type of business and the date it had to close:

• Rateable value of £15,000 or under – grants of £1,334 per four weeks of closure
• Rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000 – grants of £2,000 per four weeks of closure
• Rateable value of exactly £51,000 and over – grants of £3,000 per four weeks of closure.

Grants will be backdated pro-rata for business that needed to close on October 23 as part of the Tier 3 regulations across Greater Manchester*. These businesses include pubs that don’t serve food, bingo halls, betting shops, soft play centres, casinos and adult gaming centres.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has confirmed details of the Local Restriction Support Grants. This scheme allows Tameside Council to give grants to businesses needing to close during lockdown.

In addition to the Local Restrictions Support Grant for closed businesses, the government has also announced the Local Restrictions Support Grant (open) – for businesses that were open from August until 5 November and impacted by local Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions, including the hospitality and leisure sector. Additionally, the government announced the national £1.1 billion Additional Restrictions Grant – a discretionary grant scheme where local authorities decide how to use it to support local business.

Further information on the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) and Additional Restrictions Grants will be published once available.

The government has also announced extra welfare support for the self-employed will extend for an extra six months. Universal Credit will continue being calculated based on current earnings by extending the Minimum Income Floor suspension.

In a bid to further support workers, the national furlough scheme has been extended until the end of March 2021 and employees will still receive 80% of their original salary for hours worked, for up to £2,500 a month.

Cllr Oliver Ryan, Tameside Council executive member for Finance and Economic Growth, said: “I encourage eligible businesses to apply for these grants so we can get support out to those in need. This has been a challenging time for businesses across Tameside and our teams are working hard to ensure we deliver these new schemes in an efficient and robust way.

“It’s great to see the furlough scheme has returned and covers a considerable percentage of an employee’s salary. I know this has been a lifeline for residents who have been unable return to work because of the pandemic.”

For further information, check out the grant table by visiting https://www.tameside.gov.uk/businesssupport/granttable and to apply for a grant visit https://www.tameside.gov.uk/coronavirus/businessratesrecovery.