Government U-turn allows B&Bs to claim from virus grants fund
BED AND breakfasts paying council tax will now be able to qualify for a £617m coronavirus grant scheme after a Government U-turn.
A top-up fund was announced earlier this month by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to help struggling firms who did not qualify for other existing grants – with B&Bs that pay council tax specified as being among the priorities to receive the cash.
However, revealed that the vast majority of them would not be able to receive support under the initial eligibility rules.
That decision has now been reversed, with the eligibility rules changed. The Bed and Breakfast Association said the change to the grant scheme, which is being administered by local councils following nationally-set rules, was a “great result”.
The Liberal Democrat MP has welcomed the revision of qualification rules.
An estimated 10,000 bed and breakfasts – including many in Yorkshire – were among those who had missed out on previous schemes offering £10,000 grants to struggling firms due to paying council tax rather than business rates. It was initially decided that the new top-up grant scheme would not be open to any business eligible for any kind of other Government support.
That included the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which allows businesses to claim 80 per cent of their trading profits for three months.
The Government’s own estimate is that SEISS covers 95 per cent of people who receive most of their income from self-employment – meaning many B&Bs were set to miss out again.
But revised rules were published on Saturday which confirmed businesses eligible for SEISS were now eligible for the scheme.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who had been campaigning on the issue which also affected B&Bs in his Lake District constituency, said: “Many small bed and breakfasts will not just be able to claim money to help them to keep food on the table and protect their family but also to keep their businesses going.
“That’s so important for them but also our economy.”