Hundreds of Shropshire firms still waiting for coronavirus crisis cash

The council was yet to pay 1,731 business properties flagged as qualifying for help by May 31, the latest Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy figures show.

However the majority of these firms have told Shropshire Council they will not be applying for the money, the authority's finance boss said.

This means 78 per cent of the 7,810 properties earmarked had been sent the grants announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as the country went into lockdown – below the national average of 86 per cent.

Firms in the area have received £71.8 million so far, from an allocated pot of £91.7m.

Businesses urged to apply

James Walton, Shropshire Council director of finance, governance and assurance, said: “As at May 31 Shropshire Council had paid 6,079 applications – the 17th highest number of grants paid by the 314 local authorities in England.

“A review of our figures suggests that around 6,600 businesses will claim grants under this initiative, although we are still anticipating some applications that have not yet been made.

"We urge businesses who are eligible under the scheme to provide us with their details and claim the funding they are entitled to.

“Approximately 1,200 businesses within the 7,810 figure quoted have been contacted at least twice by the authority but have stated they will not make an application for a number of reasons.

"These reasons include the business no longer being eligible, errors in the original data and some businesses stating they are eligible but do not want to claim.”

In March, the Chancellor announced grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 for small and medium-sized businesses to support them during the coronavirus crisis.

What support is available?

The Government support takes two forms.

The Small Business Grants Fund is worth £10,000 and available to those who ordinarily also qualify for relief on their business rates due to their small size.

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund is open to those that would have qualified for a 100 per cent reduction in business rates under the previously announced Expanded Retail Discount scheme as of March 11.

The cash is allocated per business property so firms with multiple outlets can receive more than one payment.

Small and micro businesses, such as market traders or bed and breakfast owners, who aren't eligible for the two grants can also apply to councils' Discretionary Grants Fund.

Telford businesses get cash

The vast majority of eligible Telford businesses have received cash as part of the scheme.

Telford & Wrekin Council had paid 99 per cent of the 2,575 business properties flagged as qualifying for help by May 31.

This was one of the highest proportions of any council in England, with firms in the area having received £30.5m so far.

But it still means 29 local business outlets earmarked for the scheme are yet to get their hands on the remaining £4.7m of the initial £35.2m of allocated funds.

The council has also launched a second phase of its Discretionary Grants Fund to continue to support businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

About £450,000 will be awarded to 132 small borough businesses as a result of the first phase and the council is now able to extend the scheme outside of the Government’s priority list so that more businesses can benefit.

Applications will close at noon tomorrow. Eligible businesses can apply directly on telford.gov.uk/discretionarygrants.

Councillor David Wright, cabinet member for economy, housing, transport and infrastructure, said: “While the funding we have is still very limited, we’ve done our best to extend the criteria beyond the Government’s priority list and get more businesses supported.

“However, some may still be disappointed as the level of support we can provide may not be enough to keep their business going.

"We will continue to lobby the Government for more funding as many businesses are still struggling from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak which is likely to last for a long time to come.”

'Authorities must act fast'

The Federation of Small Businesses has urged councils across the country to get cash to the thousands of companies still in need of support.

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said many councils are doing their best to distribute the grants announced in March.

Mr Cherry said: “However, it is disappointing to see that some councils are still lagging behind the rest, which means that there are thousands of small businesses that are still waiting for this urgent support.

“It is the responsibility of councils and local authorities to distribute these funds as quickly as possible to help struggling small firms through this pandemic.

“I would urge any councils that still have sizeable chunks of their funding to distribute to do so sooner rather than later.

“Equally, we need to see authorities moving as quickly as possible to allocate additional, discretionary funding to those most in need,” he added.

There were five councils across the country that had paid grants to all business properties deemed eligible, according to the data.

At the other end of the spectrum, Sandwell Council had only paid 67 per cent of those in line for assistance.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said local authorities had been working flat out to ensure funds get to hard-pressed small business owners.

Other figures revealed this week show businesses in the Marches, which includes Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Herefordshire, have benefited from more than £154m of Government grant support.