Schemes to support businesses impacted by COVID-19

Only the government funded CARF scheme is currently available to help businesses impacted by COVID-19. All other Business grant schemes have now closed, including the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant (OHLG) and the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG).

COVID-19 Additional Restrictions Fund (CARF)

Scheme now closed pending further review. No further applications are being accepted.

This fund will be distributed to eligible businesses as a backdated discount on 2021/22 business rate bills, it is not a grant scheme.

• Eligibility
• How much relief will be granted

Eligibility

This scheme is open to any Richmond business in rateable occupation of a property on 1 April 2021 which is able to show an adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (measured by a reduction in turnover and/or profit between 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years or closest equivalent), except for those listed below.

The following classes of business, hereditaments and ratepayers are not eligible for this CARF scheme:

• Ratepayers who for the same period of the relief either were or would have been eligible for the Extended Retail Discount (covering Retail, Hospitality and Leisure), the Nursery Discount or the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS)
• Hereditaments which were unoccupied on the 1 April 2021, or became unoccupied after the 1 April 2021, in which case CARF will not be applied to the empty period.
• Public sector properties
• Communication stations (phone masts)
• Parking spaces
• Advertising sites
• Properties with zero business rate liability for 2021/22
• Banks and other financial institutions
• Properties owned by utility companies
• Businesses which exceed the Government’s subsidy limits as set out in the Government guidance.

How much relief will be granted

The intention of the scheme is to provide relief to businesses in proportion to the level of impact which they have suffered. Once all applications have been processed, we will have sufficient information to calculate the relief to be awarded.

We will base its calculation on the following principles:

• The proportion of relief awarded will increase as the proven impact of the pandemic increases. For the purposes of the calculation, businesses will be allocated into bands, each of which will have a rate of relief attached to it.
• Awards of relief will be scaled up or down as required to fit within the funding envelope provided by the government.
• We are not in a position to set the bands and rates of relief at this time as it has no detailed information on business performance. These parameters will be set once all applications have been processed.
• We reserve the right to cap the level of relief given in respect of any individual hereditament.

The maximum relief granted to any business will be the total liability for the 2021/22 financial year after accounting for any other reliefs.

In the event that the scheme does not distribute 100% of the funding available, we will reconsider the scheme and publish a revised version if necessary.

How to apply

We have identified all businesses they believe may be eligible and have written to these businesses inviting them to apply. Therefore do not apply unless you have received a letter from us regarding the CARF scheme.

Note that you will firstly be required to register with our third-party service provider Grant Approval and when making a claim you will be asked to provide your Business Rates account reference and property reference, which will both be included in the letter being sent out.

Once you have submitted your application it may take up to 10 working days for your application to be processed. Please do not telephone to chase up your application, as this will slow the process down. If further information is required from you, we will contact you by email.

Applications must be received by midnight on 30 July 2022. Any applications received after that date will not be considered for the reasons set out above detailing how much relief will be granted.

Grants paid

The table below details the number of businesses that received funding and the value of funding disbursed. The different schemes are listed in order of when they were launched, starting with the most recent.

Grants paid to businesses

Grant	No. of businesses paid a grant	Total paid out
Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant	443	£1,811,372
LRSG (Closed) Addendum - second payment cycle (16 February to 31 March)	53	£155,000
Restart Grant 1	429	£1,549,000
Restart Grant 2	858	£9,602,000
Closed Business January Lockdown Support Package	1,236	£13,799,000
LRSG (Closed) Addendum - Tier 4	1,039	£1,086,000
Christmas Support Payments for wet-led pubs	51	£51,000
LRSG (Closed)	243	£99,000
LRSG (Sector)	1	£3,000
LRSG (Open)	225	£381,000
Additional Restrictions Grant	1,638	£8,550,000
Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) - Addendum November 2020	1,227	£2,274,000
Discretionary Business Fund Grant	212	£2,120,000
Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant (£10,000)	1,048	£2,100,000
Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant (£25,000)	210	£26,200,000
Small Business Grant	1,274	£12,740,000