Government business grants to be paid from early April
Grants totalling around £231 million will begin to be paid to eligible businesses in Birmingham from next week as part of the Government’s COVID-19 support package.
Officers at Birmingham City Council have started to process the data for approximately 16,000 businesses who automatically qualify for the small business, retail, leisure or hospitality grants.
Payments will be made in phases depending upon existing data held by the council to verify eligibility, with businesses encouraged to speed up the process by supplying bank, business and correspondence details via a new online form.
Leader of the council, Cllr Ian Ward, said: “This is about safeguarding Birmingham jobs and businesses at a very challenging time for the city's economy and we're working hard to get this much needed help to businesses as quickly as possible.
"This is a mammoth task with around 16,000 businesses across the city eligible for this help, so I would ask businesses to be patient. We will prioritise those businesses which can be verified quickly, such as those whose bank details we already hold through direct debit payments.
"For those who require additional checks, it may take a bit longer, but as long as businesses upload their information via the online form and receive an acknowledgement email, they can be assured their data has been received and is in the process of being verified.”
The Government announced small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Relief (one grant per business).
It also announced a Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Grant scheme where business in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up to £15,000 may be eligible for a grant of £10,000 (one grant per premise) or £25,000 if their property has a rateable value greater than £15,000 but less than £51,000 (one grant per premise).
State Aid limitations may apply.
From Monday, 6 April, Birmingham City Council will begin to process payments for businesses whose bank details are already on file and will then move to businesses who supply them via the online form.
Letters will be sent to confirm when payment has been made and businesses who complete the online form will be able to choose whether this is sent to the business or another address if they are not able to access the premises.
More information on the grants and a link to the online form, can be found on our website.
