Oxford City Council is urging ratepayers who have been impacted by the pandemic to apply for new government funding from the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF).
The Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill 2021 attained Royal Assent on 15 December 2021.
The Bill allows Local Authorities to design a new COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) Discretionary scheme to reduce business rate chargeable amounts in respect to 2021/22, subject to the Government guidance provided.
The funding is available to support those businesses adversely affected by the pandemic and have been unable to adequately adapt to that impact, but are ineligible for existing support linked to business rates.
Exclusions include:
- Ratepayers who would have been eligible for the Extended Retail Discount scheme (i.e., retail, hospitality and leisure), or Nursery Discount for 2021/22.
- Awards will only be made in relation to occupied premises. There is no eligibility for businesses when the property was unoccupied (other than closed temporarily due to government advice on COVID-19)
Subsidy Allowance
Payments under this scheme are subject to Subsidy Allowance conditions, including subsidy obligations set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU.
Businesses that have already received grant payments equalling the maximum permitted subsidy allowances will not be eligible to receive funding.
Applications for funding from the scheme can be made at www.grantapproval.co.uk
If businesses are unsure of their eligibility for the scheme, they can email the Council on carf@oxford.gov.uk
“We are doing whatever we can to support local businesses to recover from the pandemic and encourage businesses to get in touch if they want some advice on accessing support.”
Councillor Ed Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management at Oxford City Council
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