Lewes council leader defends handling of business grants

Earlier this week, Lewes District Council announced it would be writing to eligible businesses with details of how to apply for the grants, after it received funding from the government.

The application process itself would be open on April 17, the council said. 

This, however, has seen some criticism from Lewes MP Maria Caulfield, who said it should be available sooner.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Caulfield said: “Why is this taking so long in Lewes? Most other councils are paying out to businesses already . This is truly unacceptable.”

Ms Caulfield’s comments prompted an intervention by council leader and Green councillor Zoe Nicholson, who laid blame for the delay at the government’s door.

Cllr Nicholson said: “Payments are taking longer to process because the government has sent three different versions of the guidance for implementing the scheme so far.

“Assuming the current guidance doesn’t change, we will soon have an automated system in place that will speed up payments to all eligible businesses.”

Responding to Ms Caulfield on Twitter, council deputy leader James MacCleary, a Lib Dem, said: “So sad that we can’t all just work together. Not a single word from you about how well our hardworking staff are doing keeping bin collections going or helping residents on housing and benefits. First chance to score some political points and you’re straight on Twitter.”

The council says it is also putting in place systems to speed up payment of the grants and reduce the chance of fraudulent claims.

The coronavirus business grants come under two schemes; one for small businesses and another for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries.

Under the small business fund, all eligible businesses receiving either small business rates relief or rural rates relief will be eligible for a payment of £10,000.

Eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure  are eligible for a grant of either £10,000 or £25,000, depending on their size.

Businesses with a property that has a rateable value of up to £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000, while those with a rateable value of more than £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.

Businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or over are not eligible for this scheme, nor are businesses which are not ratepayers in the business rates system.

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