Restrictions Business Fund

The Welsh Government has launched the Restrictions Business Fund to support businesses that have been directly impacted by the additional restrictions put in place on the 4 December and the additional restrictions put in place for non-essential retail businesses on the 19 December to control the spread of Covid-19. The purpose of the grant is to provide businesses with cash flow support and to help them survive the economic consequences of the restrictions introduced. The grant seeks to complement other Covid-19 response measures to support businesses, social enterprises and charitable organisations in Wales.

Two elements of this fund are administered by local councils:   

• Restrictions Business Fund Non-Domestic Rate (NDR) Grant
• Restrictions Business Fund Discretionary Grant

Please note:

• You can only apply for the NDR grant if you or your business is named as the business rate payer on the rate bill issued by the Council.  If this does not apply to you, you are only able to consider applying for the Discretionary Grant.
• Businesses should only apply for the NDR grant OR the Discretionary grant, not both.
• The eligibility criteria, whether an application is required, and when payments should be made have been set by the Welsh Government
• For businesses needing to register, their rateable property must have been on the NDR rating list as of 1 September 2020, and the ratepayer needs to have been in occupation of the property as of 30 November 2020
• Like all business support grants, these grants are subject to state aid limits

When will payments be made?

Non-Domestic Rate (NDR) Grant

Grants A and B can be paid without the need for a further application where qualifying businesses forced to close by the current COVID-19 restrictions regulations previously received an NDR linked grant via the recent Firebreak Lockdown scheme.  The Council has started paying these ‘automatic award’ cases and will pay outstanding cases as soon as possible. 

For Grants A, B and C: where businesses need to apply for grant funding, we aim to process finalised applications within 30 days of receipt.

Discretionary Grant

We aim to process finalised discretionary grant applications within 30 working days of receipt. 

Restrictions Business Fund Non-Domestic Rate (NDR) Grant

Who can apply and for how much?

Grant A - £3,000 cash grant payment for the following businesses with Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) qualifying rateable property with rateable value £12,000 or less

• Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure businesses - forced to close by the current regulations
• Not-for-profit organisations operating within the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure sectors - - forced to close by the current regulations
• Non-essential retail – forced to close by the current regulations
• Retail – not forced to close by the current regulations but can evidence (on a self-declared basis) a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for the relevant period
• Busnesau cadwyn gyflenwi ar gyfer pob un o'r categorïau uchod - heb eu gorfodi i gau yn ôl y rheoliadau cyfredol ond gallan nhw ddangos (trwy hunanddatganiad) ostyngiad o fwy na 40% yn y trosiant ar gyfer y cyfnod perthnasol. 

As instructed by Welsh Government, in the week commencing 14 December 2020, the Council processed this £3,000 grant payment for qualifying hospitality businesses that received an SBRR linked grant via the recent Firebreak Lockdown scheme without the need for a further application.  Following the First Minister’s announcement of further Covid-19 related restrictions on the 19 December, the Restrictions Business Fund was enhanced to provide this £3,000 grant payment to non-essential retail businesses forced to close by the current regulations. Yn unol â chyfarwyddyd Llywodraeth Cymru, mae'r Cyngor wedi prosesu'r taliad grant hwn ar gyfer busnesau manwerthu nad ydyn nhw’n hanfodol a gafodd grant cysylltiedig â Rhyddhad Ardrethi Busnesau Bach drwy gynllun y cyfnod atal byr diweddar heb yr angen am wneud cais pellach. 

Those qualifying hospitality and non-essential retail businesses that did not submit their details for an NDR grant during the Firebreak will need to complete the online application form below.  All other qualifying businesses that fall within the 5 bullet points shown above will also need to complete the online application form below.

Those businesses that fall within the bullet points shown above that are not forced to close by the current regulations that can evidence (on a self-declared basis) greater than 40% reduction in turnover as a direct result of new restrictions will need to complete the online application form below.  These businesses will be asked to self-declare, via the online application form whether they had a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for December 2020 as compared to December 2019, or as compared to turnover for September 2020 if not trading in December 2019.

Additional information:

• Businesses will occupy a rateable property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less; 
• The multiple property restriction applied to the Small Business Rates Relief scheme applies to this grant. Therefore the same ratepayer may only receive the grant for a maximum of two properties in each local authority.

Grant A will also apply to ratepayers eligible for charitable relief and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) relief, operating in the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors occupying properties with a rateable value of up to £12,000. Local authorities have discretion to provide grants to not-for-profit bodies they consider to be operating for charitable purposes but aren’t currently receiving charitable relief or CASC relief. This discretion will only apply to not-for-profit organisations who are in receipt of or have entitlement to discretionary rates relief and operate in the leisure, tourism or hospitality sectors.

Grant B - £5,000 cash grant payment for the following businesses occupying hereditaments with a rateable value between £12,001 and £51,000

• Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure businesses - forced to close by the current regulations
• Not-for-profit organisations operating within the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure sectors - - forced to close by the current regulations
• Non-essential retail – forced to close by the current regulations
• Retail – not forced to close by the current regulations but can evidence (on a self-declared basis) a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for the relevant period
• Busnesau cadwyn gyflenwi ar gyfer pob un o'r categorïau uchod - heb eu gorfodi i gau yn ôl y rheoliadau cyfredol ond gallan nhw ddangos (trwy hunanddatganiad) ostyngiad o fwy na 40% yn y trosiant ar gyfer y cyfnod perthnasol. 

As instructed by Welsh Government, in the week commencing 14 December 2020, the Council processed this £5,000 grant payment for qualifying hospitality businesses that received an NDR-linked grant via the recent Firebreak Lockdown scheme without the need for a further application.  Following the First Minister’s announcement of further Covid-19 related restrictions on the 19 December, the Restrictions Business Fund was enhanced to provide this £5,000 grant payment to non-essential retail businesses forced to close by the current regulations. Yn unol â chyfarwyddyd Llywodraeth Cymru, mae'r Cyngor wedi prosesu'r taliad grant hwn ar gyfer busnesau manwerthu nad ydyn nhw’n hanfodol a gafodd grant cysylltiedig â Rhyddhad Ardrethi Busnesau Bach drwy gynllun y cyfnod atal byr diweddar heb yr angen am wneud cais pellach. 

Those qualifying hospitality and non-essential retail businesses that did not submit their details for an NDR grant during the Firebreak will need to complete the online application form below.  All other qualifying businesses that fall within the 5 bullet points shown above will also need to complete the online application form below.  

Those businesses that fall within the bullet points shown above that are not forced to close by the current regulations that can evidence (on a self-declared basis) greater than 40% reduction in turnover as a direct result of new restrictions will need to complete the online application form below.  These businesses will be asked to self-declare, via the online application form whether they had a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for December 2020 as compared to December 2019, or as compared to turnover for September 2020 if not trading in December 2019.

Additional information:

• Businesses will occupy a rateable property with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £51,000;
• Grant B will also apply to ratepayers eligible for charitable relief and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) relief, operating in the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors occupying properties within the above rateable value range. Local authorities have discretion to provide grants to not-for-profit bodies they consider to be operating for charitable purposes but aren’t currently receiving charitable relief or CASC relief. This discretion will only apply to not-for-profit organisations who are in receipt of or have entitlement to discretionary rates relief and operate in the leisure, tourism or hospitality sectors.

Grant C - A £5,000 cash grant payment for the following businesses occupying hereditaments with a rateable value between £51,001 and £150,000

• Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure businesses - forced to close by the current regulations
• Not-for-profit organisations operating within the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure sectors - forced to close by the current regulations
• Non-essential retail – forced to close by the current regulations
• Retail – not forced to close by the current regulations but can evidence (on a self-declared basis) a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for the relevant period
• Busnesau cadwyn gyflenwi ar gyfer pob un o'r categorïau uchod - heb eu gorfodi i gau yn ôl y rheoliadau cyfredol ond gallan nhw ddangos (trwy hunanddatganiad) ostyngiad o fwy na 40% yn y trosiant ar gyfer y cyfnod perthnasol. 

Qualifying businesses will need to complete the online application form.  

Those businesses that fall within the bullet points shown above that are not forced to close by the current regulations that can evidence (on a self-declared basis) greater than 40% reduction in turnover as a direct result of new restrictions will need to complete the online application form below.  These businesses will be asked to self-declare, via the online application form whether they had a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for December 2020 as compared to December 2019, or as compared to turnover for September 2020 if not trading in December 2019.

Grant D - A £5,000 cash grant payment for the following businesses occupying hereditaments with a rateable value between £150,001 and £500,000

Grant D is only available for the period 25 January 2021 to 31 March 2021.

• Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure businesses - forced to close by the current regulations
• Not-for-profit organisations operating within the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure sectors - forced to close by the current regulations
• Non-essential retail – forced to close by the current regulations
• Retail – not forced to close by the current regulations but can evidence (on a self-declared basis) a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for the relevant period
• Busnesau cadwyn gyflenwi ar gyfer pob un o'r categorïau uchod - heb eu gorfodi i gau yn ôl y rheoliadau cyfredol ond gallan nhw ddangos (trwy hunanddatganiad) ostyngiad o fwy na 40% yn y trosiant ar gyfer y cyfnod perthnasol. 

Qualifying businesses will need to complete the online application form.  

Those businesses that fall within the bullet points shown above that are not forced to close by the current regulations that can evidence (on a self-declared basis) greater than 40% reduction in turnover as a direct result of new restrictions will need to complete the online application form below.  These businesses will be asked to self-declare, via the online application form whether they had a greater than 40% reduction in turnover for December 2020 as compared to December 2019, or as compared to turnover for September 2020 if not trading in December 2019.

Additional information:

• Grant D will also apply to ratepayers eligible for charitable relief and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) relief, operating in the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors occupying properties within the above rateable value range. Local authorities have discretion to provide grants to not-for-profit bodies they consider to be operating for charitable purposes but aren’t currently receiving charitable relief or CASC relief. This discretion will only apply to not-for-profit organisations who are in receipt of or have entitlement to discretionary rates relief and operate in the leisure, tourism or hospitality sectors.

How to apply

To apply for the Restrictions Business Fund Non-Domestic Rate Grant, please use the application form below.

For further information please read the Restrictions Business Fund NDR Grant Guidance Document.

Restrictions Business Fund Discretionary Grant

Please note: Businesses that are eligible for the Restrictions Business Fund NDR Grant are NOT ELIGIBLE for this discretionary grant.

A discretionary grant of £2,000 is available to assist businesses that have:

• Been forced to close as a result of the national restrictions put in place. 
• The grant will also support businesses that estimate that the extended restrictions put in place will result in at least a 40% reduction in their turnover as compared to an equivalent restriction free trading period prior to 23rd March 2020. Those applicants that started trading after 23rd March 2020 will need to declare (and may be asked to demonstrate) a 40% reduction in turnover for an equivalent trading period since they commenced in business. 

You are not eligible for this grant if:

• You are eligible for, or have received, the Restrictions Business Fund NDR Grant from your Local Authority
• If the business generates less than 50% of your income. The business must be your main source of income.
• You are eligible for a ‘top-up’ payment via the extended Freelancer Fund.
• The total amount of Covid-19 support grants you have received (including any further award through this discretionary fund) exceeds 80% our turnover for a typical year of trading.

Businesses need to confirm how the extended restrictions announced on 29 January by the First Minister will negatively affect their business.

All applications will be considered on an individual basis and payment of the grant is at the absolute discretion of the Local Authority within the criteria set out in the guidance.

For further information please read the Restrictions Business Fund Discretionary Grant Guidance Document.

Applications will be dealt with on a first come first served basis. This may lead to applications not being appraised after they have been submitted if the fund is fully committed. Applicants will be notified of this by email.

Bydd y grant ar agor ar gyfer gwneud ceisiadau o 10 Chwefror 2021 a bydd yn cau ar ddyddiad i'w nodi gan yr awdurdod lleol neu pan fydd y gronfa wedi'i hymrwymo'n llawn.