Tag Archive for Government

Local authorities blame government for slow release of Covid-19 grants

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Local authorities have blamed government for the slow payment of Covid-19 grants during lockdown, with businesses still waiting for cash.
Although government says it has paid out the £4.6bn worth of Covid-19 grants to be distributed by all 314 local authorities over the current national lockdown, it still has to release of the £12bn worth of support first offered last year.
There have been 10 different tranches of funding to keep small businesses going through local-tier restrictions established in October and the one-month lockdown for England that ran from November 5.
>See also: £9000 lockdown grant for businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure
The schemes also cover support for different regional restrictions in December and the current lockdown in England, which is expected to run until at least February 22.
The Local Government Association says that councils have also been struggling to distribute the money, due to increased state-aid compliance issues and vetting applicants for fraud. They have focused on getting larger amounts for January’s closures out the door, as opposed to last year’s smaller grants.
But businesses still awaiting grants say they may not still be in business by the time money is finally released.
>See also: Where to

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Local authorities blame government for slow release of Covid-19 grants

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Local authorities have blamed government for the slow payment of Covid-19 grants during lockdown, with businesses still waiting for cash.
Although government says it has paid out the £4.6bn worth of Covid-19 grants to be distributed by all 314 local authorities over the current national lockdown, it still has to release of the £12bn worth of support first offered last year.
There have been 10 different tranches of funding to keep small businesses going through local-tier restrictions established in October and the one-month lockdown for England that ran from November 5.
>See also: £9000 lockdown grant for businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure
The schemes also cover support for different regional restrictions in December and the current lockdown in England, which is expected to run until at least February 22.
The Local Government Association says that councils have also been struggling to distribute the money, due to increased state-aid compliance issues and vetting applicants for fraud. They have focused on getting larger amounts for January’s closures out the door, as opposed to last year’s smaller grants.
But businesses still awaiting grants say they may not still be in business by the time money is finally released.
>See also: Where to

Read more...

Boris Johnson hires Andrew Griffith to lead Downing Street business team

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Boris Johnson has poached Sky TV chief operating officer Andrew Griffith to be his interlocutor between Downing Street and the business community.
Griffith, COO of the pay-TV giant, will be the bridgehead between business and the Government with the TV executive leading a beefed-up business team out of Downing Street.
Notoriously, Johnson was overheard to say “fuck business” when he was Foreign Secretary and being confronted with business leaders’ alarm over Brexit. But in recent weeks he has been on a charm offensive in an effort to persuade corporate leaders that he will offer a pro-business, tax-cutting agenda.
Andrew Griffith is a former Conservative candidate who lent his £9.5m Westminster townhouse to the Johnson campaign during the race for the party leadership.
Allan Leighton, chairman of Co-operative Group and former Sky board member, told the Financial Times that Griffith would be “good news for the business community”.
Small business reaction
Reacting to Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister, business associations and small business suppliers gave their wish lists for the incoming PM.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) met with Johnson and his team last week to discuss priorities for the new administration.
Among the measures the FSB would like to see

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Government launches £2 million funding competition

A funding competition has launched with £2 million available to businesses, academia and local authorities. The money will go to new projects focused on testing out ways of rolling out existing productivity-boosting technology and management practices for businesses. It comes from the Business Basics Fund which is part of the modern Industrial Strategy. The strategy
The post Government launches £2 million funding competition appeared first on Small Business.

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Insolvency: government initiatives have failed small businesses

Insolvency is making an unwelcome return to the headlines. The number of individuals who were declared insolvent last year reached its highest level since the aftermath of the financial crisis. According to the Insolvency Service, 99,196 people in England & Wales were declared insolvent in 2017 – up by 9.4 per cent on the year
The post Insolvency: government initiatives have failed small businesses appeared first on Small Business.

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SMEs voice doubts about new government and future chances

As the government’s summer recess commences with question marks hanging over the government’s unity, new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance reveals three in ten SMEs (29 per cent) did not believe that the new government will do anything in the near future to help their businesses grow. The poll asked owners and directors of over 1,200
The post SMEs voice doubts about new government and future chances appeared first on Small Business.

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