East Cambridgeshire District Council will be launching its discretionary funding scheme from Monday 1 June for businesses unable to access other COVID-19 grant funding.

Applications for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund open from 12:00 noon on Monday and the Council is urging businesses to check their eligibility and apply as soon as possible as funding is limited.

The deadline for applications for the fund is Tuesday 30 June 2020.

An additional limited fund of £828,000 has been made available to the Council by central Government to support small businesses who have not been eligible for previous grants provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Local Authority Discretionary Fund will prioritise the following four types of businesses:

1. Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces which do not have their own business rates assessment. e.g. units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators
2. Regular market traders on East Cambridgeshire Market with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment
3. Bed and Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates
4. Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.

Businesses must meet all the following criteria to be eligible:

• Have relatively high ongoing fixed property related costs
• Occupy property, or part of a property, with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000.
• Can demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in income due to the COVID-19 crisis
• Have fewer than 50 employees
• Have been trading on or before 11 March 2020.

Businesses who are eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme are also eligible to apply for the Local Authority Discretionary Fund.

Who is not eligible?

Businesses which are eligible for cash grants from any other central government COVID-19 related scheme are not eligible for the Local Authority Discretionary Fund.

If you believe you are eligible for one of the other grant schemes and have not yet been in touch, please contact the Council at covid19businessgrants@eastcambs.gov.uk or by telephone on 01353 665555.

Apply online by visiting: https://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/business/local-authority-small-business-discretionary-grant-coronavirus-update The Council will pay the grant as soon as a successful application is received and verified.

More information about the eligibility criteria for the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund can be found at https://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/business/local-authority-small-business-discretionary-grant-coronavirus-update

For more information about the financial support for businesses, visit https://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/content/coronavirus-information-businesses