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Bassetlaw District Council e-Newsletter

Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG)

The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) will open for applications from 9.30am on Friday 4 February 2022. Please read the following information to support you with your application as there are significant changes to the grant eligibility compared to previous rounds.

Due to considerably lower levels of funding under the latest top-up grant of ARG our policy supports businesses not eligible for the mandatory Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) scheme, but operate in the direct supply chain of the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors. The grant will also support businesses in the personal care sector. Please see the wider eligibility criteria and refer to the business type tables to clarify your business eligibility.

Your business may be eligible for an ARG from Bassetlaw District if:

• Your business operates in the direct supply chain of businesses in the hospitality, leisure or accommodation sectors that are eligible to receive OHLG or your business is in the personal care sector. Please refer to the tables below that provide details on the types of businesses you will supply goods and services to that are eligible for support through OHLG. Guidance for businesses that trade in the personal care sector will be taken from annex C in the Restart Grant guidance which are listed below.
• Your business was trading and occupies a property in Bassetlaw District Council non-domestic rating list on which you pay business rates (or is in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief) on 30 December 2021.
• Your business employs fewer than 50 employees. This is based on total employee numbers in the company and not by individual site.
• Your business isn’t insolvent or in administration.
• Your business is not eligible to receive a grant under the OHLG scheme
• Your business hasn’t exceed the Covid-19 Business Grant Subsidy Allowance

Eligibility Exclusions

The Council will apply the same exclusions in those sectors as applied in the mandatory OHLG scheme under paragraphs 38, 30, 40 and 41, for example tour operators, gyms and sports business under the leisure sector and food kiosks and take-away businesses under the hospitality sector. Please refer to the Government guidance to review these paragraphs Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant Guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Business eligible for the mandatory Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant scheme are not eligible to apply for ARG.

Your business has exceed the Covid-19 Business Grant Subsidy Allowance or is in administration or insolvent.

Buildings operated by public bodies or registered charities are also excluded from the Local Business Grant scheme.

Grant Allocations

Grant amounts are based on the rateable value of properties as at 30 December 2021.

Application Process

The Council will assess applications on a first-come-first-served basis. This is a new grant application window, businesses that have successfully applied for previous ARG rounds will need to submit a new online application.

The grant application window will be available on the council website and will open from 9.30am on Friday 4 February 2022. Applications will end when the funding provided is spent or 12:00pm (midday) on Friday 11 March 2022, whichever is the earlier.

It is proposed to consider all applications for ARG as they are received and the grant application will end immediately once funding is fully spent.

Businesses will be able to access the form for the ARG on the following page from Friday 4 February. Please note: there will be two forms on the website so please ensure you complete the form that relates to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG).

Here is an overview of what is required to support your application so businesses can gather information needed prior to applying. There is a check-list at the end of the application to check that you have completed the application in full before submitting.

Information required: 

• Self-employed and sole traders to provide their home address.
• Those in a partnership will need to provide the names and addresses of all partners.
• A unique identifier number for the business e.g. company registration number, unique tax reference number, partnership number, VAT registration number.
• National Insurance Number.
• Date business established/incorporation date.
• Business rates reference number (10 digit number found in top right of your latest business rate invoice) and your property rateable value (not the amount you pay).
• Bank statement, to be uploaded, that is no more than 3-months old that shows the business name on the account, sort code, account number and business address to clarify the payment details. If online banking is used screen prints can be provided

We will aim to assess your application and reach a decision within 10-working days. Successful applicants will receive the grant payment within 5-working days from receiving the email stating they have been successful.

If we can please ask that you do not contact the Council for an update on your application as this is going to pull the grants administration team away from assessing applications which will delay getting payments out to businesses. We understand the urgency and we want to get grants out to businesses as quickly as possible.

Appendix

Business types eligible for Omicron Hospitality and Leisure grants

Hospitality

Leisure

Accommodation

Businesses that fall within the personal care sector (as determined in the Restart Grant guidance)

AccessAble Destination Guides

As part of Bassetlaw District Council’s Welcome Back Fund plan spend, two ‘destination guides’ for Worksop and Retford town centres have been commissioned with AccessAble. These guides will give residents and visitors a better understanding of how they can access and utilise the main areas in the towns and for a disabled person to determine themselves what is and isn’t accessible to them. The guides will feature on the AccessAble website, which receives over 40,000 visits per week as well as being linked on our own website. As part of the survey for the guide, any businesses in the district who would like to take advantage of preferential rates, to have its own recommendation and best practice guidance report completed on its own premises, can do so from as little as £200 for a typical small shop/café with toilets. This will also then be included within the destination guides allowing businesses to promote their premises. Simply contact us by email at economic.development@bassetlaw.gov.uk to register your interest and find out further details.

Latest Covid Updates

What has changed

England has returned to Plan A.

This means:

• The government is no longer asking people to work from home if they can. People should now talk to their employers to agree arrangements to return to the office.
• Face coverings are no longer advised for staff and pupils in secondary school and college classrooms.
• Face coverings are no longer advised for staff and pupils in communal areas of secondary schools, nor for staff in communal areas of primaries.
• There is no longer a legal requirement to wear a face covering. The government suggests that you continue to wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces where you may come into contact with other people you do not normally meet.
• Venues and events are no longer required by law to check visitors’ NHS COVID Pass. The NHS COVID Pass can still be used on a voluntary basis.