Contact your Parish Council
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Maidstone Borough Council Record of Officer Decision |
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Reason for Record |
Specific Delegation and spend over £250,000
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Officer |
Alison Broom, Chief Executive |
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Date Decision Taken |
16th November 2020 |
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Is the decision Exempt? If yes please provide the reason for exemption |
No |
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Record of decision |
In response to the increasing rate of transmission of the COVID19 pandemic and national restrictions from 5, November 2020 the Government introduced further grant schemes to assist businesses to mitigate the loss of income during the pandemic.
The decision to implement an Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme (discretionary scheme) in line with the guidance issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is aimed at providing financial support to the elements of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector that are required to close or rely on the operation of that sector as part of their supply chain and fall outside of the national Local Restriction Grant Scheme.
The attached document sets out the Council’s policy for the delivery of the Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme, including:
Factors that will be considered when making a decision to award or refuse a grant application; and
Review procedure for businesses dissatisfied with the Council’s decision.
The cost of the scheme is funded by Government up to a cap of £3,436,520.
The Government has provided funding to cover the period 2020/21 and 2021/22.
The Council’s approach is to carefully phase the use of this finite resource; the scheme has been designed with the intention for approximately 80% to be spent during the period to spring 2021, reflecting what the council believes to be the likely period of greatest impact for the business community.
The balance of funding (20%) will be held as a contingency for support needs from spring 2021 and to fund wider business support activities.
The operation of the policy will be reviewed regularly to take account of demand and any change to the impacts experienced by the business community.
The Powers to implement such a scheme are contained in Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011.
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Reasons for decision |
In response to the Covid 19 pandemic the Government has introduced a package of measures to financially support businesses.
The Additional Restrictions Grant (discretionary scheme) is an important part of those measures and provides a local discretion to support those businesses that have suffered a significant reduction in income and fall outside of the scope of other support measures.
The production and publication of the council’s policy enables transparency with respect to the criteria and process for allocation of discretionary funding to support businesses in the borough.
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Details of alternative options, if any, considered and rejected |
Whilst introduction of the Scheme is at the discretion of the council and the council could decide not to implement a scheme, this would be to the detriment to local businesses, the wider economy and residents of the borough.
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Details of the Committee from which the specific delegation is derived from (if any), along with the date of meeting and the specific resolution |
Part 2.3.1 para 12 of the Constitution enables the Chief Executive to take any action necessary in connection with any civil emergency or disaster including response, recovery and business continuity as may be required from time to time.
The decision has been taken in consultation with the Leader of the Council and Chair of Economy, Regeneration and Leisure Committee. |
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