Vast majority of Peterborough businesses get grants to help them during coronavirus pandemic

The vast majority of eligible Peterborough businesses have received cash as part of a scheme to help them stay afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic – one of the highest rates in England.

But with funds much slower to reach struggling firms in other areas, the Federation of Small Businesses has urged councils to get cash to the thousands of companies still in need of support.

In March, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 for small and medium-sized businesses to support them during the coronavirus crisis.

The cash is provided for a business property so firms with multiple outlets can receive more than one payment.

Peterborough City Council had paid 98 per cent of the 2,454 business properties flagged as qualifying for help by May 31, the latest Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy figures show.

This was one of the highest proportions of any council in England, with firms in the area having received £29.2million so far.

But it still means 40 local business outlets earmarked for the scheme are yet to get their hands on the remaining £5.3million of the initial £34.5million of allocated funds.

Councils across England had paid out grants worth £10.1billion to 820,000 business properties by the end of May – 86 per cent of those identified as eligible and 82 per cent of the money made available.

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said many councils are doing their best to distribute the grants announced in March.

“However, it is disappointing to see that some councils are still lagging behind the rest, which means that there are thousands of small businesses that are still waiting for this urgent support," he added.

“It is the responsibility of councils and local authorities to distribute these funds as quickly as possible to help struggling small firms through this pandemic.

"I would urge any councils that still have sizeable chunks of their funding to distribute to do so sooner rather than later.

“Equally, we need to see authorities moving as quickly as possible to allocate additional, discretionary funding to those most in need."

There were five councils across the country that had paid grants to all business properties deemed eligible, according to the data.

At the other end of the spectrum, Sandwell Borough Council had only paid 67 per cent of those in line for assistance.

Richard Watts, chairman of the Local Government Association’s resources board, said: “Government grants are a vital lifeline to businesses struggling at this time and worried about the future.

“Councils have worked hard to distribute more than £10billion of this vital funding to small businesses. This has been a huge undertaking.”

The government support takes two forms. The Small Business Grants Fund is worth £10,000 and available to those who ordinarily also qualify for relief on their business rates due to their small size.

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund is open to those which would have qualified for a 100 per cent reduction in business rates under the previously announced Expanded Retail Discount scheme as of March 11.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said local authorities have been working flat out to ensure funds get to hard-pressed small business owners.