Nationally £1.6bn of grant funds have been made available to support businesses through lockdown. The funds were issued on 31 October, but 82.5% of the total funds have not yet been paid (end of February 2021)
Some councils are yet to release any of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funds, Harrogate Borough Council has released around 46% of the available grant, putting them at the very top of the best performing authorities in handing the grants out – around the top 3 of authorities.
The original allocation for the Harrogate District was £3,216,620, following by a top-up mid-January of £1,428,670 giving a total allocation is £4,645,290.
To-date Harrogate Borough Council have allocated £2,047,133.
Graham Swift, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources, Enterprise and Economic Development, Harrogate Borough Council:
The staff at HBC have worked very hard to get grants into the pockets of people to protect those in need.
Where appropriate they have followed government criteria and immediately handed out funds and when local discretion has been encouraged, officers have created grant schemes to ensure that those most in need and those that have fallen through the national gaps have received protection wherever possible.
The fact that HBC have delivered so much money so speedily is obviously great. Even more important, is that the number of complaints raised from individuals missing out has really fallen to very low levels, reflecting the way that officers have responded to address potential shortfalls or concerns.
I can’t speak highly enough of the teams involved in administering these many grants at a time when people are so in need of support.
See Coronavirus financial support for your business
