Our experience (and others we have spoken to) say yes, but it is not too late to change that! In the West Midlands there is still more than £207,840,000. discretionary grant funding available which may go back to central government if it is not spent.[1]
Call to Action
We call on the Mayor, local MPs, Cllrs and officers to unlock the £207,840,000 – Covid 19 discretionary grant funding to provide support to the Social Enterprise sector.
- A sector that works tirelessly to support the most vulnerable
- A sector that predominantly works in the most deprived areas.
- A sector that ploughs its profit back into local communities.
- A sector that has been badly let down nationally and locally.
- A sector that is integral to enable us to #BuildBackBetter.
The Wider Picture
The Government announced “unprecedented support”[2] when Covid 19 struck the UK back in March 2020. The Chancellor announced this financial support to ensure jobs were retained and businesses saved. For personal profit-making businesses, the package included:
- the Job Retention Scheme (Furlough),
- loan finance, such as Coronavirus Business Interruption loans (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loans (BBL) and,
- more than £12 Billion in rate relief grants.
One size does not fit all
Great packages, but very early on it was recognised that these schemes did not meet the needs of the majority of the VCSE sector.
- The furlough scheme meant that social enterprises and VCOs would need to close and not provide services to vulnerable people at a time of crisis.
- The business rate relief grants meant that many VCSEs would be ineligible by design, as they tended to work out of premises without rates.
- Loans are unlikely to be attractive to VCSEs who generally do not have shareholders and provide vulnerable people with free at point of use support.
The Haves
It has been widely reported that business such as TESCOS benefited with £585m in grants whilst seeing a 30% increase in sales and distributing £635m in dividends to its shareholders.[3]
The Have Nots
Meanwhile, after significant national campaigning, the VCSE sector received a package of £750m for the whole sector! Think about that for a moment, TESCOS received £585m (automatically) and saw increases in sales whilst the whole of the VCSE (in England), a sector that supports the most vulnerable, are often set up in the most deprived areas and re-invest their profits / surpluses back into those very same communities, received £750m in total.
What’s Left?
According to Government figures to 14/06/2020 there is still:
£1,848,994,000 unspent[4]
One billion, eight hundred and forty-eight million, nine hundred and ninety-four thousand pounds unspent.
West Midlands
£207,840,000 unspent
Two hundred and seven million, eight hundred and forty thousand pounds.
By Local Authority area the figures are: (figures correct as of 14/06/2020- published 21/06/2020).
| Local Authority | Initial Allocation | Value of payments (£) | Available |
| Birmingham City Council | £231,576,000 | £188,185,000 | £43,391,000 |
| Bromsgrove District Council | £21,222,000 | £18,810,000 | £2,412,000 |
| Cannock Chase District Council | £23,864,000 | £19,725,000 | £4,139,000 |
| City of Wolverhampton Council | £53,518,000 | £41,665,000 | £11,853,000 |
| Coventry City Council | £53,896,000 | £44,700,000 | £9,196,000 |
| Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council | £66,588,000 | £51,860,000 | £14,728,000 |
| East Staffordshire Borough Council | £27,084,000 | £21,940,000 | £5,144,000 |
| Herefordshire Council | £60,482,000 | £54,420,000 | £6,062,000 |
| Lichfield District Council | £19,396,000 | £17,935,000 | £1,461,000 |
| Malvern Hills District Council | £21,954,000 | £17,795,000 | £4,159,000 |
| Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council | £23,876,000 | £19,900,000 | £3,976,000 |
| North Warwickshire Borough Council | £13,118,000 | £12,780,000 | £338,000 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council | £21,680,000 | £18,775,000 | £2,905,000 |
| Redditch Borough Council | £14,518,000 | £12,835,000 | £1,683,000 |
| Rugby Borough Council | £20,044,000 | £17,285,000 | £2,759,000 |
| Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council | £73,036,000 | £51,490,000 | £21,546,000 |
| Shropshire Council | £91,670,000 | £75,615,000 | £16,055,000 |
| Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council | £28,736,000 | £25,460,000 | £3,276,000 |
| South Staffordshire District Council | £19,146,000 | £16,980,000 | £2,166,000 |
| Stafford Borough Council | £27,580,000 | £23,810,000 | £3,770,000 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands District Council | £25,040,000 | £20,290,000 | £4,750,000 |
| Stoke on Trent City Council | £57,654,000 | £50,540,000 | £7,114,000 |
| Stratford-on-Avon District Council | £35,520,000 | £30,865,000 | £4,655,000 |
| Tamworth Borough Council | £12,020,000 | £11,190,000 | £830,000 |
| Telford & Wrekin Council | £35,240,000 | £30,085,000 | £5,155,000 |
| Walsall Council | £53,554,000 | £40,825,000 | £12,729,000 |
| Warwick District Council | £33,124,000 | £30,420,000 | £2,704,000 |
| Worcester City Council | £21,070,000 | £18,115,000 | £2,955,000 |
| Wychavon District Council | £33,258,000 | £28,795,000 | £4,463,000 |
| Wyre Forest District Council | £22,546,000 | £21,080,000 | £1,466,000 |
| Available | £207,840,000 | ||
| Totals | £1,242,010,000 | £1,034,170,000 | £207,840,000 |
Sources
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19
[3] https://www.cfg.org.uk/dont_leave_us_stranded
[4] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/894581/200622-local-authority-grant-payments.csv/preview