Decision details

The Government have provided a number of funding/grant sources to councils as part of the response to COVID, including more recently, the Omicron variant.

The report will set out the context for the available funding and make proposals for its use.

To authorise the Chief Executive to introduce a new policy and to allocate / pay monies for a final phase (phase 7) of Additional Restrictions Grant that provides:

(i)  Support to public houses (£1,000 per business / location), hospitality and leisure businesses (£1,000 per business / location), independent retailers (£500 per business / location) and taxi and private hire drivers (£225 each) who qualified under phases 2 & 3 of the ARG policy.

(ii) A new application process to provide support to Ipswich-based independent travel companies and businesses in the personal care sector that operate from rated premises and who have been severely impacted by the rise in the Omicron variant of Covid. This should have a sliding scale of payments from £500 to a maximum of £3,000 per business.

(iii) If there is still funding unused / unallocated by mid-March, the remaining funding is to be distributed to the business supported category (i) above (in a manner to be determined by the Chief Executive).

Reason for decision: To enable the Council to effectively administer the new grant and ensure money is paid out in a timely manner (i.e. by the Government closing date of 31^st March 2022).

It is anticipated that there will be about £500,000 to allocate via this phase and it is anticipated that spend within point (i) will be around £300,000 and spend within point (ii) is likely to be a maximum of around £200,000.

Note: This decision is certified as being exempt from call in to enable Phase 7 of the Additional Restrictions Grant to be implemented and grants issued without delay.