Having paid over £4 million in support grants this month to eligible rural and high street non-essential businesses that have temporarily closed due to lockdown restrictions, Mole Valley District Council has now launched a Discretionary Grant Scheme available to those remaining businesses in need of support at this time.
Councillor Clayton Wellman, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Economy, said: “Having paid nearly £20 million in support grants to businesses from April to September last year, we have once again been called upon to assess and approve business grant applications and administer payments to businesses that have met the required criteria to help support them through this deeply unsettling period.
“After paying over £4 million in support grants to around 500 eligible businesses in recent weeks, our focus has now switched to bringing a new Discretionary Grant to the attention of those businesses that were unable to meet the required criteria set out in this latest round of government support grants. I would urge all businesses in this position to visit www.molevalley.gov.uk/businessgrants before the closing date of Monday 15 February 2021 to check their eligibility. Further information can be sought by emailing businessgrants@molevalley.gov.uk or ringing 01306 885001.
“The vast majority of money paid out to eligible businesses during this latest round of support grants is a combination of Local Restrictions Support Grant – specific to the current lockdown and Tier 3 and 4 restrictions in place over December last year – as well as an additional one-off grant for the ongoing national lockdown. Additional payments have also been made specifically to pubs and restaurants to help them through the festive season, which is a usually critical trading period.
“We are desperate for every business in the district to be able to reopen as soon as it is safe for them to do so. This is of course entirely dependent on this lockdown being lifted which, in turn, is reliant on the number of infection rates and the overall R rate reducing. We can all continue to do our part by adhering to the rules in place.”
