Round 2 of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Scheme: Westminster City Council has received a £2.3m top-up allocation from the Government, bringing the total funding envelope for the ARG to £7.5m.

The eligibility criteria have been determined following Cabinet Member direction. Following the first round of the scheme, we have revised the eligibility criteria for the scheme and increased the value of individual grant awards as follows:

• Previous Discretionary Grant Fund recipients who are in non-essential retail, hospitality or leisure; who supply the first-tier retail, hospitality or leisure sectors; and businesses within the events sector will now be eligible to apply.
• Successful applicants through the first round of ARG to receive a top-up of £3,000 to their originally approved £2,000 grant award.
• Enhancing the grants from £2,000 to £5,000 per business for new successful applicants through the second and possibly final round of the scheme.

Therefore, only businesses who fall under one of the following three categories will be eligible to apply:

• non-ratepayers in non-essential retail, leisure, personal care, sports facilities and hospitality business (including, hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation and leisure businesses) which are effectively forced to close or have been severely impacted by the restrictions. This includes previous Discretionary Grant Fund recipients.
• ratepayer or non-ratepayer businesses that supply (first tier) the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, including previous grant Discretionary Grant Fund recipients
• ratepayer or non-ratepayer businesses in the events sector, including previous Discretionary Grant Fund recipients.

Due to the limited funding available to the Council, awards will continue to be made on a “first come, first served” basis to eligible businesses that provide valid application forms together with all the requested documentary evidence.

The scheme will be administered until the funding pot has been fully exhausted. Business who fail to submit all the relevant documentary evidence in the time frame stated on their application correspondence will have their applications discontinued.

Please only submit an application if you believe your business falls under one of the three listed business categories.

Due to the limited funding available to the Council, the scheme will continue to operate on a first come first served basis to eligible businesses that provide valid completed application forms together with all of the requested documentary evidence. Please only submit an application if you believe your business meets all of the mandatory criteria for the scheme.

If you would like to submit an application please click here.

In the event that you encounter any issues with the application process, please contact the Westminster Business Unit by email or call 020 7641 2070.

Important guidance for reopening al fresco dining: If your business is preparing to provide al fresco dining in time for reopening on 12 April, you must remember to apply for a new pavement licence as current licences will expire on 30 April. Find out more here.

If your business has sufficient outdoor space and you don’t currently have a pavement licence but would like to apply for one in time for reopening on 12 April, you must submit your application by no later than tomorrow (26 March). Apply for your licence here.

National Lockdown Grant Payment – deadline 31 March: The deadline to claim the National Lockdown Grant is 31 March 2021. To check if you’re eligible, or for more information, please click this link to view the Council’s website.

Hospitality, accommodation and leisure businesses, along with non-essential retail businesses, which have applied for and been paid the November national lockdown grant before 15 February 2021 will have subsequently been paid all other periods of grant payment due to them up to 15 February 2021.

The government announced this week a new tranche of grant funding for the same types of business to cover the period 16 February 2021 to 31 March 2021. When the Council has received the appropriate funding from central government, the Council will schedule the future payment of this additional grant payment. The grants are set amounts based on the rateable value of a business:

Rateable values of <15,001                                 -  a grant payment of £2,096
Rateable values between 15,001 and 50,999      -  a grant payment of £3,143
Rateable values > 50,999                                    -  a grant payment of £4,714

There is no need to re-apply to the Council.

Further details of Business Support Grants can be found by clicking this link.

Council leader responds to new business rates relief fund: Following today's announcement by the government of a new £1.5 billion business rates relief fund, Cllr Rachael Robathan, leader of Westminster City Council, said: "This news is welcome as central London’s economy prepares for the lifting of lockdown. With 39,000 businesses in Westminster, we are acutely aware of the pain employers and staff have suffered in the past year and it is vital companies get the right kind of help. As a council we successfully pressed for the extension of the business rates holiday. We now need to see this package of central Government help distributed fairly to revive Westminster’s economy. One in ten jobs in London are generated by the West End, and it’s in everyone’s interest to see our businesses thriving again.”

Protect Duty Consultation - now live: The Home Office recently launched a consultation to seek views on a legislative requirement to consider and take forward protective security and preparedness measures at ‘Publicly Accessible Locations.’ 

Publicly Accessible Locations include Any place to which the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission. The Duty has the potential to impact a great number of venues in Westminster, including hotels, bars, retail premises, educational institutions, places of worship and the public realm, for some of whom such considerations might be new.

In launching the Duty, there is an emphasis on the impact the pandemic has had on businesses and that protective security benefits can be achieved through reasonable and not overly burdensome security measures and for many organisations and venues, the requirements of a Protect Duty would entail minimal new costs.

This consultation seeks views from all parties - in particular, organisations who own locations or operate at publicly accessible locations. We would encourage you to familiarise yourself with the Duty and give consideration to responding to the consultation, particularly if it will affect you or your business.

Click here to take part.

Brexit support fund for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME): The Government-funded SME Brexit support fund could provide your business with up to £2,000 to help with procuring training or professional advice. To qualify for the fund, your business must have 500 employees or fewer, and have an annual turnover of less than £100million.

Applications will close on 30 June or earlier if all funding is allocated before this date. Click here for more information or to make an application.

Free Lateral Flow Tests For All Businesses: All businesses in England are now able to sign up to the free COVID-19 workplace testing programme, including those with fewer than 50 employees. Around 1 in 3 people with coronavirus don’t have symptoms, which means they could be spreading the virus in workplaces without knowing. Regular testing could be the difference between a workplace being able to stay open and operational, or needing to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Businesses have until 31 March to register for the government’s workplace testing scheme, which will remain free until the end of June. All those who can work from home should continue to do so. Click here to visit the Government’s online portal to find out more about offering workplace testing.

Focus Group – Black, Asian and Minority Ethic (BAME) Business Support: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges for businesses. National research highlights that businesses owned by people from BAME backgrounds have been disproportionally impacted.

We’d like to help, and to do this we want to hear from business owners from BAME backgrounds, to gather feedback on your experiences, challenges and the types of business support that you would find beneficial. We’re hosting a focus group on 13 April, 1-2pm.

If you’d like to attend, click this link to send an email to the Business Unit. Please let us know if you’re interested in attending before 1 April.

Important advice for EU citizens: EU, EEA or Swiss citizens need to make sure to apply for settled status to remain in the UK. The deadline to apply is 30 June.

If you’re an employer, please help make sure your staff know about the deadline. We want to make sure everyone in Westminster has the help and support they need to stay here. That’s why we’re working with Citizens Advice Westminster to provide an information and advice service for EU nationals living in the City. For help applying to the EU Settlement Scheme, call 0300 330 9011 (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11am to 2pm).

To apply for settled status or find out more information please visit the Government’s ‘Stay in the UK’ webpage.

Food Business Survey: We’re looking at creating an informative video series to help businesses learn more about Council services, regulations with regards to commercial premises, how to adhere to these and proactive steps you can carry out to achieve compliance and resilience.

We have put together a survey to understand whether our businesses are interested in this offer and, if so, on what topics. We would greatly appreciate hearing from you on how we can best support your business. The survey should take no longer than five minutes to complete. To take part, please click this link and answer the questions on the page. The deadline for submitting a response is 9 April.

Debt Support for Business Owners: The Citizen's Advice Bureau’s Specialist Debt Service is able to provide individuals with any types of debt advice. This includes advice on rents, business rates, loans, credit cards, utility bill and other issues.  They can explain options available to debtors and the possible remedies available to them. At least, the CAB will be able to signpost them to appropriate advice agencies if they are unable to help.  
Click here to contact the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

London Business Hub Property Advice Service Programme: Are you a small to medium sized business in London looking for free advice on business rates, understanding your lease, landlord negotiations and finding commercial premises in these troubling times? The London Business Hub's Property Advice Service is offering free masterclasses and one-to-one sessions on managing your commercial space.

Webinars will be taking place monthly from 15 April, 10.30am-12.30pm.

Click here to find out more and register.