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 |
25th March 2021 |
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Is the decision Exempt? If yes please provide the reason for exemption |
No |
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Record of decision |
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 was made on the 19th November 2020.
The scheme has since been periodically reviewed with 3 rounds of funding made available covering the period 5th November to 16th February 2021.
The attached document sets out the Council’s policy for the delivery of round 4 of the Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme, which looks to build on the existing criteria by introducing:
· Extended award periods to reflect the phased re-opening of the economy and ongoing restrictions for different sectors.
· Award levels that reflect the Restart Grant for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector that occupying commercial workspace and are required to close.
· A new category of award to reflect the difficult trading conditions experienced by businesses that have been able to remain open but have been adversely affected by the reduced footfall in our town centre and other retail destinations across the borough This is expected to be the last round of funding under the scheme in its current form and represents an acceleration of the grant awards to reflect the Governments roadmap for recovery and change in guidance from BEIS which encourages Councils to make full use of the existing grant allocation as quickly as possible, with further national funding announced and available once the existing fund has been exhausted.
The council currently has £2.9m of ARG funding available. Whilst the level of demand and corresponding spend is difficult to predict the following allocation has been assumed and will be adjusted in accordance with applications made to ensure maximum impact for our businesses.
£1.2m allocated to existing applicants £0.7m new applications £1.0m hardship fund
Should the council exhaust the current ARG budget (£2.9m) the scheme and all future payments will be suspended until such time that further Government funding is made available.
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 financial 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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