Covid relief fund branded ‘postcode lottery’ as some East Midlands firms miss out
Hundreds of businesses promised business rates relief via the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) failed to receive any support despite assurances from the Government in March 2021, alarming new figures have revealed.
Newly compiled statistics show that £1.197bn of the £1.5bn fund was allocated to businesses by the 30 September 2022 deadline, but 20% of the pot had still not been paid out by that time.
Northwest Leicestershire, Amber Valley and South Kesteven were among 22 local authorities that failed to distribute any of their allocation before the deadline.
Just 75 local authorities – less than a quarter of the 309 in England – had paid out all of their grant allocations by the end of September.
Distribution of the funding, which was designated for companies outside the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, was entrusted to local authorities on the basis that they would “get cash to affected businesses in the most proportionate and equitable way.”
According to John Webber, head of rating at Colliers, the fund “vastly underestimated” the capability of local authorities to pay out in an efficient and consistent way, effectively creating “carnage” and a “postcode lottery” – although it is possible that some local authorities did not make their determinations until the eleventh hour, highlighting the degree of complexity and bureaucracy that beset the fund.
Webber said: “The picture is a disgrace. Eighteen months on from the time businesses were denied their right to appeal their business rates, one fifth of the allotted £1.5n had still not been allocated to such businesses, despite the passing of the allocation deadline date. Part of this will no doubt be down to some of the Local Authority’s policies being incredibly complicated and rigid and part maybe due to some ratepayers having to decline due to subsidy issues, an issue that would not have applied had the relief been given under the MCC rules. It has been a nightmare for all concerned – from local authorities to ratepayers and those who manage on their behalf.”
He added: “One can only conclude that it would have been a much different and better picture for businesses if they had been allowed to appeal their rates bills under the MCC rules.”
