CORONAVIRUS BUSINESS SUPPORT GRANTS: Businesses please send us your details

Businesses will receive these payments directly into their bank accounts on Monday 6 April. 

It comes after the Council has written to all businesses that according to their records are eligible for support, however not all have replied. This means around 800 businesses are still eligible for support totalling around £10 million.

Hartlepool Borough Council is keen to pay these grants as soon as possible, but needs these remaining businesses to provide some very basic information.

There are two schemes - the first scheme supports small businesses with a rateable value of up to £15,000 who occupied their business premises on 11th March 2020. These business are eligible for a grant of £10,000.

The second scheme supports retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. Those businesses occupying business premises with a rateable value of up to and including £15,000 on 11 March 2020 will be eligible for a grant of £10,000. Those businesses occupying business premises with a rateable value of over £15,000 and less that £51,000 on 11 March 2020 will be eligible for a grant of £25,000. 

To claim these grants, eligible businesses just need to complete a simple application form, which can be found at www.hartlepool.gov.uk/smallbusinessgrant  

Completing the form is the quickest way for Hartlepool Borough to process grant applications. If you have any problems please contact us on (01429) 284277.  

Once this form is completed, we will not require any further information of how individual businesses spend these grants. 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that the default position is that these grants would be liable for tax, as are the business costs this grant is supporting.  

Councillor Shane Moore, Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “These grants are intended to help businesses meet costs until other Government support is available. 

“These grants can be used to meet fixed costs, such as property rent and property insurance, to pay supplier invoices, or pay wages if your business is experiencing cash flow problems. 

“These grants can also be used to pay wages if you have agreed with your employees that they will be furloughed and you are waiting to claim this money back from the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.”   

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme 

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will manage the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and make payments to individual businesses. 

The HMRC website says the online service to submit furlough claims will be available by the end of April 2020.  

The scheme is open to all UK employers and applies to furloughed employees who had been on a businesses’ payroll on 28 February 2020.  

Claims can be backed dated to 1 March 2020 and are limited to the lower of 80% of an individual employees’ salary, or £2,500 per month.  

Employees will still continue to pay tax and national insurance.

Further information can be found on the HMRC website by clicking here