Newark and Sherwood District Council has been named in the top 10 per cent for paying out business support grants to those affected by the coronavirus crisis in a nationwide league table of local authorities.

Council staff have been working around the clock to ensure local businesses receive financial support as quickly as possible. The figures rank Newark and Sherwood as the highest performing local authority in Nottinghamshire, having already paid just under £19.84m in 1,624 transactions.

Three-quarters of intended recipients have now been paid after the authority made the decision to initially use its own resources to pay out the grants, to minimise the damage to the local economy, before its allocation of funds was transferred from central government.

The speed with which the council acted in paying out the grants has been praised locally by businesses that have had to pause operations as part of the nationwide effort to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Malcolm Smith, partner with Southwell-based Land and Estate Agents Smith and Partners, said: “Thank you for the efficient manner in which you have processed our application for the Government Covid-19 Business Support Grant and for the advice given in connection with Small Business Rates Relief.

“It is all too easy to assume that when dealing with a local authority the process would be indifferent and overly bureaucratic, but your handling of the above matters has been – refreshingly – the complete opposite.

“I appreciate that arranging for a relatively large local authority to have personnel working from home would have been an enormous task, but I think the district council, and in particular the Revenues section, should give itself immense credit for operating so efficiently in such difficult circumstances. Well done!”

Council leader Coun David Lloyd said: “Colleagues in our finance and revenues and benefits teams deserve huge credit for pulling out all the stops to ensure payments have been made in such a swift and efficient manner. They have diligently worked around the clock to ensure grants have been paid out quickly and we hope that the vast majority of businesses will have been in receipt of their funds by the end of the week.”

On one single day, since the pandemic unfolded, almost £6m was paid out with firms receiving £10,000 or £25,000 depending on their circumstances.

There are three types of support for businesses that were announced at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Firstly, a £10,000 grant per business property in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief and Rural Rates Relief or secondly, a £10,000 grant per business property in the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Sector with rateable value of £15k or less at March 11, 2020 (If businesses fall within both categories 1 and 2 above, the maximum grant eligible will be £10,000). Thirdly, a £25,000 grant per business property is payable to businesses in the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Sector with a rateable value of more than £15k but less than £51k as of March 11, 2020. Funds are initially paid out by the District Council which will be reimbursed by central government.

For those businesses that have not yet submitted their bank details, use the online form at https://selfservice.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/renderform.aspx?t=238&k=1AB6716C7FF52E4159DB65D8D3A62D4BDE070661

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