A report to the Isle of Wight Council’s Cabinet reveals the scale of government funding that was needed to support Isle of Wight firms through the Covid pandemic crisis.
The Isle of Wight Council has paid out a total of £99,799,908 in 21,984 individual grant payments since May 2020, mainly to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.
Grants for businesses
During 2020 and 2021 the government allocated money to local authorities to support business, initially paid on the basis of business rates, but later topped up with other funds that councils could distribute to other businesses that did not pay rates, such as taxi drivers, market stall holders and those in the supply chain for the tourism, hospitality and retail sector.
Reopening grants
A final grant was provided to assist businesses prepare for reopening after the last national lockdown, and applications closed in May 2021.
No more money is now expected from the government.
On the Isle of Wight, only about 0.25 per cent of the total remains (£273,947) to be distributed, and councillors will be considering how to make best use of the funds to aid the recovery of the Island’s economy.
How the money could be used
Examples of how this could be used include activities supporting town centres including Small Business Saturday and ‘pop up’ shops in the lead up to the Christmas period; delivering training for businesses linked to Covid recovery; supporting short courses, work placements and apprenticeships particularly in the hospitality sector; and support for cultural activity.
Deadline for use
The government has said that the money from all the grants has to be used by the end of March 2022, and so councillors will decide now how the remaining funds will be allocated between now and that deadline.
The paper
For more information see the paper, embedded below for your convenience.
News shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed
Image: howardlake under CC BY 2.0
