Is your council letting you down or is it the Government?
Many of you will remember the Chancellor announcing £12bn of support in grants as part of the Covid-19 relief for business. These grants were to be paid to those with Rate-able business premises. Grants were either £10k or £25k Dependent on the business type.
When the detail was published the Social Enterprise sector along with the voluntary sector campaigned as it was clear many social enterprises and charities would not fit the criteria. This led to an announcement of support for charities with a new funding pot and a decision to allow Local Authorities to make discretionary grants. There was also an allocation of a potential 5% uplift if the local authority had or expected to spend all of the allocated grant money.
Time is running out
Many authorities have now completed their grant rounds with a few, such as Birmingham, undertaking a final round of discretionary grant applications which are soon to close. As an organisation that has fallen through the cracks we’re highlighting the fact that there remains around £1.6bn of the initial £12bn that remains unspent. Our local (Solihull) authority have informed us that the original allocation was an “over-payment” from central government and that therefore they have no ability to award any further grants discretionary or not and that the “unspent” money will go back to central government.
This, if true, is at the very least, misleading, and if not, worrying that the local authorities seem content on handing significant funds allocated to support the region back to central government.
What’s left?
The table below shows the allocation and spend in the West Midlands and was correct as of 20th July 2020.
| Local Authority | Region | Initial Allocation | Number hereditaments identified may as at 27 July | Number of grant payments made as at 27 July | Value of payments (£) | Difference (£) |
| Birmingham City Council | West Midlands | £231,576,000 | 19,210 | 17,037 | £204,810,000 | £26,766,000 |
| Bromsgrove District Council | West Midlands | £21,222,000 | 1,683 | 1,683 | £19,350,000 | £1,872,000 |
| Cannock Chase District Council | West Midlands | £23,864,000 | 1,909 | 1,746 | £19,980,000 | £3,884,000 |
| City of Wolverhampton Council | West Midlands | £53,518,000 | 4,366 | 3,898 | £44,245,000 | £9,273,000 |
| Coventry City Council | West Midlands | £53,896,000 | 4,562 | 3,916 | £46,570,000 | £7,326,000 |
| Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council | West Midlands | £66,588,000 | 5,039 | 4,704 | £54,105,000 | £12,483,000 |
| East Staffordshire Borough Council | West Midlands | £27,084,000 | 1,924 | 1,922 | £22,580,000 | £4,504,000 |
| Herefordshire Council | West Midlands | £60,482,000 | 4,949 | 4,871 | £55,880,000 | £4,602,000 |
| Lichfield District Council | West Midlands | £19,396,000 | 1,605 | 1,498 | £18,205,000 | £1,191,000 |
| Malvern Hills District Council | West Midlands | £21,954,000 | 1,637 | 1,637 | £18,500,000 | £3,454,000 |
| Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council | West Midlands | £23,876,000 | 2,002 | 1,818 | £20,325,000 | £3,551,000 |
| North Warwickshire Borough Council | West Midlands | £13,118,000 | 1,183 | 1,128 | £12,930,000 | £188,000 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council | West Midlands | £21,680,000 | 1,632 | 1,546 | £19,060,000 | £2,620,000 |
| Redditch Borough Council | West Midlands | £14,518,000 | 1,099 | 1099 | £13,255,000 | £1,263,000 |
| Rugby Borough Council | West Midlands | £20,044,000 | 2,490 | 1,422 | £17,520,000 | £2,524,000 |
| Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council | West Midlands | £73,036,000 | 5,887 | 4,879 | £55,165,000 | £17,871,000 |
| Shropshire Council | West Midlands | £91,670,000 | 7,810 | 6,685 | £78,970,000 | £12,700,000 |
| Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council | West Midlands | £28,736,000 | 2,027 | 1,908 | £25,755,000 | £2,981,000 |
| South Staffordshire District Council | West Midlands | £19,146,000 | 1,838 | 1,501 | £17,350,000 | £1,796,000 |
| Stafford Borough Council | West Midlands | £27,580,000 | 2,169 | 1,995 | £24,165,000 | £3,415,000 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands District Council | West Midlands | £25,040,000 | 2,048 | 1,807 | £20,530,000 | £4,510,000 |
| Stoke on Trent City Council | West Midlands | £57,654,000 | 4,549 | 4,549 | £51,595,000 | £6,059,000 |
| Stratford-on-Avon District Council | West Midlands | £35,520,000 | 2,987 | 2,595 | £32,085,000 | £3,435,000 |
| Tamworth Borough Council | West Midlands | £12,020,000 | 1,018 | 930 | £11,475,000 | £545,000 |
| Telford & Wrekin Council | West Midlands | £35,240,000 | 2,595 | 2,594 | £30,755,000 | £4,485,000 |
| Walsall Council | West Midlands | £53,554,000 | 4,040 | 3,759 | £42,525,000 | £11,029,000 |
| Warwick District Council | West Midlands | £33,124,000 | 2,655 | 2,388 | £30,975,000 | £2,149,000 |
| Worcester City Council | West Midlands | £21,070,000 | 1,440 | 1,440 | £18,960,000 | £2,110,000 |
| Wychavon District Council | West Midlands | £33,258,000 | 2,579 | 2,579 | £29,915,000 | £3,343,000 |
| Wyre Forest District Council | West Midlands | £22,546,000 | 1,840 | 1,799 | £21,410,000 | £1,136,000 |
| Data correct at 20/07/2020 | £163,065,000 |
Make some Noise
Perhaps if we all make representations to keep this money allocated and spent within the region we may be successful and enable some of those organisations that have so far fell through the cracks to get some much needed financial support.
Good luck!