OIC working towards business grant payments for April 6

Orkney Islands Council is expecting to make the first payments from the Scottish Government business grant funds on April 6.

The council is administering the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Fund on behalf of the government.  A high number of applications have been received since the scheme opened on March 24 with the Scottish Government only finalising its guidance on March 30. A council spokeswoman has said payment of the grants is now their finance team’s highest priority and a number of staff are hard at work processing grant applications.

Payment on April 6, rather than before that, will mean that businesses will only be liable to pay tax on the grant income in the next tax year.

The Small Business Grant Fund is a one-off £10,000 grant available for the ratepayers of properties which had a rateable value of £18,000 or less and were, on March 17 2020,

• In receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS),
• in receipt of Rural Relief, or
• eligible for SBBS but in receipt of Nursery Relief or Disability Relief Fresh Start or Business Growth Accelerator Relief.

The Retail, Hospitality, Leisure Support Grant is a £25,000 grant available for ratepayers of properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rate-able value between £18,001 and £51,000 in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

Grants applications can be submitted on the council’s website https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Council/C/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-businesses.htm. A current phone number and e-mail address should be included so that the council can contact applicants for more information.