A new grant scheme for East Devon businesses affected by the local COVID restrictions between early December and early January has been launched.

The council is also working to ensure that further financial support for businesses impacted by the current national lockdown is made available as soon as possible. 

Businesses which could remain open but have been severely financially affected by Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions from December 2 to January 4 can now apply for Local Restrictions Support Grants (Open) V2.

The council's Cabinet has approved the policies for new grant schemes covering the current lockdown, as well as the launch of a further round of the discretionary scheme – the Additional Restrictions Grant.

These schemes cover both local and national restrictions since December 2 and will be live as soon as possible – see eastdevon.gov.uk/business-grants for all the latest information.

Due to the multiple grant schemes and the varying time periods to which they apply, East Devon District Council understands that this could be a confusing picture for hard-pressed businesses. 

In response, the council has been working to streamline the business grant application processes. 

Businesses which received a grant for the national restrictions period from November 5 to December 1 will automatically receive an access code to use when completing one short form for the December and January schemes.

These codes will be sent out when the new scheme is live.

Grant applications are also being encouraged from the following:

• Pubs which primarily sell drinks rather than food, are registered for business rates and were affected by Tier 2 from December 2 can apply for a one-off £1,000 payment from the Christmas Support Payment for wet-led pubs. Pubs should apply for the grant before 31st January 2021, when the fund closes.
• Businesses which pay business rates and were legally forced to close from December 2 to January 4 should apply for the local restrictions support grant - Closed v2.

"As businesses across East Devon continue to be adversely affected by the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, the district council is pulling out all the stops to ensure that those financially disadvantaged are able to access a range of support measures being administered by our team.

"We have already paid out more than £2.3million in Local Restrictions Support Grants to businesses impacted by November's national restrictions and we are now working to process claims for December. Please see the latest grant information on our website eastdevon.gov.uk/business-grants.

"Businesses are asked to be patient while grant applications are processed, due to the huge surge in demand. Please check information on the website including the frequently asked questions, as we are unable to receive grants queries by telephone."