Dickson Appreciates Minister of Finance Update on Covid Business Support Grants
On 12 April, East Antrim Alliance MLA, Stewart Dickson, asked the Minister of Finance, for an update on progress in bringing forward required regulations so that his Department could pay out recently announced one-off grants for businesses totalling £178m, and assist with Covid-19 challenges and when the payments will be made.
The Minister responded that three regulations provide the legal authority for the £178 million in new business support grants, came into operation on 31 March 2021.
It is anticipated the majority of payments from all three grant schemes will be processed by the end of May.
Mr Dickson said: “These one-off grants will be a huge help for many businesses across Northern Ireland, so the sooner the payments can be processed, the better.”
The Department of Finance have provided the below detail on the schemes and payment timeframes that Land and Property Services are working towards:
·The application portal for the £50,000 grant scheme for businesses in large NAV properties, as provided for in The Financial Assistance (Coronavirus) (Large Business) Regulations (NI) 2021, will open on 21 April and will remain open for two weeks;
Payments for the £25,000 grant scheme to mid-sized manufacturing businesses that did not receive funding in the first lockdown, as provided for in The Financial Assistance (Coronavirus) (Industrial Business) Regulations (NI) 2021 provide, will commence to be paid automatically from the end of April;
Top-up payments to businesses that received the £10,000 and £25,000 grants in the first lockdown, but have not received support in the second lockdown, as provided for in The Financial Assistance (Coronavirus) (Business Support) Regulations (NI) 2021, will commence to be paid automatically from the mid May.
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