Leftover cash for council call
Association says councils should be able to keep any leftover cash to revive the local economy.
The LGA say the Government has told councils it will shut the schemes – the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund – on August 28 and any unclaimed funds will need to be returned.
Councils across England had paid out 88% of the fund's £12.3bn by August 9 – which means £1.5bn may still be available.
Richard Watts, chairman of the LGA’s resources board, said: “The Government needs to commit to redistributing any unspent resources from the original schemes, including any clawed back, to councils to be spent on local efforts to help further support businesses and reboot local economies.”
A third Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund worth up to £25,000 was launched in May for small and micro businesses that are not eligible for the other schemes, and also closes on August 28.
Figures show £402,500 had been paid out to Sunderland businesses through the fund by July 5.
The Federation of Small Businesses is calling for another round of the discretionary grant – worth up to £617 million – to be issued to councils.
A BEIS spokeswoman said: “Around 92% of eligible small businesses nationally have now received government grants totalling almost £11billion, as part of a wider package of support for businesses worth £160billion. We are working with local councils to ensure funds get to as many eligible small business owners as possible.”